Family Ties
by ShellyBryan
Summary: She is trying to find her Father but instead finds a family. Rated M for strong coarse language and sexual innuendo. Slight GSR, SOC friendship and GOC. Chapter 13 & Epilogue updated March 1st. Complete.
1. Prologue

Author: Michelle Bryan

Title: Family Ties

Rating: T/PG13 (Language and sexual innuendo)

Pairings: S/OC Friendship, Slight GSR, G/OC

Summary: She is trying to find her Father but instead finds a family.

Disclaimer: CSI and its characters belong to Alliance Atlantis, CBS, Anthony Zuiker, and anyone else who puts money into the production…

Story Notes: The first few chapters are very Sara/OC centric. There is a mixture of case file and character angst. The second chapter is just about getting to know the background of my important OC character and a bit of Sara so if you plan on skipping that, you probably won't miss too important of info but it will help understand the action in the latter chapters.

A/N: This is my second fanfic placed on It's one that is closer to my heart then that of my first. This one is my longest story to date. Many emotions in this one. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.

FAMILY TIES

* * *

Prologue

It was dark in the alley as he walked up to her sleeping form, looking around but not really giving a damn if anyone saw him. He didn't think anyone would call in the fact that a homeless girl was being raped anyway.

Slapping her upside the head, he woke her up then quickly covered her mouth with his hand to keep her screams muffled. He could tell this one was going to be a big thrill. He remembered being told that his first rape was always going to be the best of his career and this one, with all her feistiness, seemed like a nice handful.

She knew what was happening and what was going to happen. Her first instinct was to fight, no matter how much it hurt. She took a swing at his face.

He only smiled.

She scratched his cheek, leaving three bloody marks down the right side of his face.

His only laughed.

'It is fun.' He thought. He punched her and the scream that emanated from her throat only added to his arousal, as well as the resounding thud her head made as she was knocked unconscious from the cement.

* * *

Officer Davis reported to CSI Sara Sidle and Detective Sophia Curtis, "My partner and I found her in that alcove over there." He pointed to the dip in the building that surrounded the alley. 

"She was lying beaten and unconscious, her pants down at her ankles. My partner grabbed photos quickly, just as the ambulance was pulling up." He handed them to Sara who faked a glance at them, not able to stomach the site at the moment, then placed them on her kit. "She's in her mid-to-late teens, about 5'3" and 135 pounds. She's pretty damn muscular for a short shit."

Sophia nodded as she took notes and Sara walked up to the alcove. "Did anyone touch anything else on her other then her cell phone and clothes?" Sara asked over her shoulder.

"Not that either my partner or I saw." Said Officer Gleaton, coming up behind his partner. "Since she's been conscious, she hasn't aloud anyone to touch her. Not even the paramedics." Sara nodded absentmindedly.

"What's her name?"

"We don't know. She won't talk to anyone either; won't give any details."

"Thanks." Sara walked up to the young teen. "Hi," The first thing she noticed was the familiarity of the girls piercing blue eyes, from where-she couldn't pinpoint. She shook head, her thoughts going back to the case. "My name is Sara Sidle. I'm with the crime lab."

The only response she received was the girl thrusting her hands towards Sara. Sara gave her a thoughtful expression. The girl shrugged. "I scratched him before he knocked me out. I should also have his hand print on my cheek soon." The young teens slight Irish accent mixed with her head injury made her words jumble together a little.

Sara stood shocked for a minute. 'How does she know what I'm looking for? Ahhh, she must watch those shows on TV.' Sara thought.

"I know what you're looking for because I'm not stupid so don't looked so shocked." The teen spat. Sara nodded and went to work on collecting the evidence from the girl.

When the teen noticed Sophia walking up to the back of the ambulance where she sat, she looked her in the eyes defiantly. "He was crouched down when he woke me up but if I had to judge then I would say he's approximately 5'10"-6' tall with broad shoulders. His hair was dirty blonde and spiky; his eyes, greenish-blue. He wore a corduroy jacket that looked a size too big and a pair of black jeans. He should have three long scratches along the right side of his face. I saw that he was bleeding from those cuts before he knocked me out. As I told your partner here, don't look at me all shocked like because I'm not stupid."

Sophia bit back a retort and focused on the questioning. "What's your name?"

"You got the story and the evidence from me now you do your job and find the bastard. Other then that, I don't have to tell you shit." She replied immediately.

Sara looked up at the girl sitting in front of her on the back of the ambulance and saw her jaw set stubbornly. She knew this wasn't a first time victim. 'And I bet the guy wasn't caught the last time judging by her reluctance towards police.' She thought.

Sophia pushed on. "We need your information."

"You … don't … need … shit." She growled.

"Yes we do. We need your contact information incase we need to talk to you again. Why don't you want us to have your info? Are you wanted for anything?" Sophia asked confidently.

"You know what? Fuck you Barbie Bitch…" She jumped down from the ambulance but stumbled and fell into Sara who caught her and pushed her back gently onto the bus.

"Whoa kid, settle. You probably have a concussion and if that is true then you jumping around and freaking out on authority isn't an ideal thing to do." Sara said soothingly.

"Fuck authority. I don't need your help. Didn't need it before, don't need it now." She replied firmly.

Sara nodded her head at the girl. "Fine, you don't need us but we need your help. Can you please hop into the back of the ambulance and change into these scrubs then bag your clothes?" When the girl snatched the scrubs from Sara then jumped into the back of the bus, Sara turned and this time nodded at the head EMT. "Take her to the hospital and get her stitched and fixed. Tell the nurse I want a sexual assault exam as well as x-ray photos and ultra-light photos for under-skin bruises. Please." She smiled to temper her demands.

Sophia turned her attention to officer Davis. "Follow her to the hospital and stay with her. When everything is done please bring her back to the station for more questioning." Officer Davis nodded and jumped into his vehicle, waiting for the bus to leave.

After receiving the bagged clothing from the head EMT, Sara packed the evidence into the back of the Denali then started off back to the lab.


	2. Backtrack

Chapter 1 – Backtrack 

"What do you want from me?" She yelled in exasperation, her Irish accent prominent.

"We just want to help." Sara answered calmly.

"I already told you want happened to me and a detailed description of the bastard. What the fuck else do you want?"

"We need your information incase we need to contact you." Sophia sighed, trying her hardest to hide her growing irritation with the snarky teen but failing.

Without releasing her gentle, understanding gaze from the stubborn blue eyes of the teen across from her, Sara asked, "Sophia, could you and Officer Davis give us a couple minutes?"

Sophia hesitated but nodded and left, Officer Davis following close behind her, closing the door and manning his new post just outside the interrogation room.

The teen sat starring at Sara, unmoving.

Sensing the young girls need to get away, Sara went straight to the point but let the girl know, by the tone of her voice, that she understood. "You don't have any contact information do you?"

After a brief shock, the teen narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "You don't know shit so don't try to reach out to me with your pity party." She spat.

Sara nodded, knowing that would be her answer. "I don't pretend to understand what people go through, but in this case, I _do_ understand." She said softly.

The teen harrumphed.

"How old are you?"

Silence.

"Where are you from?"

Silence.

"Could you tell me your name?" Sara asked, hiding her slight irritation successfully.

The teen leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms defensively. "Shelly." At Sara's expectant look, Shelly sighed. "Fine, Shelly Gillian O'Brien and I'm 18."

Sara gave a sharp nod. "There, that wasn't so bad." She smiled sarcastically.

Shelly looked down at the table, hoping her hat would hide her smirk. "So, how do you think you understand me?" Shelly asked as she lifted her head again.

"How about you answer my questions first then I'll answer yours." Replied Sara.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Asked Shelly seriously.

"Well, no I don't believe you are." Sara answered perplexed.

"Then why would you honestly think I would believe that offer?"

Sara smirked mercilessly. She sat back in her chair, much the way Shelly did earlier, with her arms crossed. "You like being a smart-ass?"

"You know it." Shelly replied with flare. "It's the only way to survive."

Sara quickly saddened and leaned forward with her elbows on the table. "Where do you live?" She asked seriously.

Shelly sighed deeply. "Nowhere."

"Where _did_ you live?"

"East endof Chicago."

"Where did you stay when you lived there?"

"Depends how old I was. I've lived in many different houses with many different assholes."

"Foster care." Sara stated accusatorily.

Shelly sat shocked for the second time that day, starring at Sara with befuddlement. The puzzle piece feel and she nodded knowingly. "You do understand then." Sara looked up from her hands with narrowed eyes. "I felt that vibe when you first said you understood but now I know, you were a system child as well."

Sara shook herself out of her daze. "I told you before, I ask the questions right now." She said a little more forceful then she meant to.

"Fine, be ashamed. I hated the fuckin' system and the dirty-as-the-desert houses I stayed in too but they shaped me. I am as hard as I am now because of the bastards I had to, and still have to, deal with. Not to mention, they gave me my greatest gift ever." She finished in a blissful tone.

"What gift is that?"

Shelly shut down.

Sara noticed the touchy subject and changed direction of the conversation. She lowered her voice to a comforting tone. "Where are your parents?" Shelly shrugged her shoulders in an 'I don't care' motion but her first show of weakness was seen; her eyes became glassy with unshed tears.

"My… my mother was uhh… she was killed when I was six." She cleared her throat, successfully swallowing the lump of emotion that showed up unwanted.

"Where was your dad?" Sara asked softly.

"Why the hell you asking 'bout him for?" Shelly growled.

"Because we need all the information about you that we can incase there is another victim and we need to compare victim profiles." Sara answered calmly, which was the opposite of the girl across from her.

"I am _not_ a victim! Not again!"

"Okay. But we still need your info." Sara stayed calm, willing Shelly did the same.

Shelly shot up out of her chair as she yelled, "Fine!" Sara held up a hand towards the one-way mirror to make sure they stayed out as Shelly began to pace and yell. "You want to know all about me? Fine!"

She took a deep breath and started again. "I don't have a dad, I have a sperm donor. WhenI was born, my mother went from smart, wanna-be science geek to a single mother with no money and a new mouth to feed. Her parents disowned her because they were high and mighty Catholics and she wasn't the Virgin Mary if you get what I mean. She got into drugs to support me and soon she got hooked with a fuckin' sewer rat boyfriend who made me his toy and mom, his punching bag." She took another deep breath.

"December 21st, 1994, while I hid in the kitchen, my mom's brain matter was sent shading the cupboards gray." She swallowed hard and sank into her chair dejectedly. She slowly continued in an emotional whisper. "It's like she knew it was going to happen or something."

Sara sat enthralled. She was rocked to the core by this young girls story. When she realized Shelly stopped talking, she asked, "Why do you think she knew it was going to happen?"

Shelly shook her head sadly. "A couple days before that day, she gave me a picture of my father. He was 30 in the picture. She said that it was taken at the seminar she attended. They were wonderful together for two years. He would fly back and forth from where he worked to Chicago. That's what she told me; that much I remember anyway." She sighed heavily and leaned her elbows on the table, placing her head in her hands.

"On the back of that picture she wrote quite a bit of shit about him and me. But I lost the picture when I came here two weeks ago."

"Do you remember what was written?" Sara asked softly.

Shelly nodded with her head still in her hands. "It had a list of things I had in common with him. I have his eyes, hair colour, and lips. It also said that my middle name was a mixture of his and his mom's first names. The last thing she told me was that," She sighed and looked up at Sara, "The last placeshe heard he was living was Las Vegas."

"Is that why you're here?"

Shelly nodded and looked back down at the table. "I turned 18 on August 6th last year and was 'sent on my way' from the latest house I was in. I stayed with a friend for about six months and saved up as much money as I could so I could come here and search for my father. I got mugged though my third day here."

"Where have you been staying since?" Sara asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "Whichever alley wasn't being occupied at the time." Shelly turned sad yet determined eyes to Sara. "I want to find my father but I haven't had much luck on my own." She shrugged.

Sara was so caught by her piercing blue eyes that she hadn't realized she whispered, "I wish I still had a chance to know my dad," until Shelly replied.

"You didn't know your dad either?"

"Yeah, a little." Sara shrugged then sighed. "I'll help you."

"What?" Shelly asked shocked.

"I'll help you … to find your father. I want to help."

"How are you going to help me? Why would you?" She asked suspiciously.

"Because you want to find your dad so… I want to help." Sara shrugged as if it was obvious.

Shelly stared at Sara for a minute, dissecting what she could from her body language. When she found the answer to her silent question, she nodded.

Sophia re-entered the room. "If we have a sketch artist talk to you, could you re-tell them what your attacker looked like?" She asked, her voice much softer and sympathetic then before.

"Don't pity me, Miss Curtis, just because you heard my story." If looks could kill, Sophia would have been laid to rest right then.

"It's not pity Miss O'Brien. I'm just trying to help get justice…"

"Oh please!" Shelly threw her hand up to stop Sophia. "Save the practiced speech for someone who gives two shits what you're trying to do. All I want is to find my father, tell him he's an asshole for cheating on my mother then leaving her, then I'm going back to Chicago to raise my last remaining family, okay? I'm sure you can find the rapist bastard on your own."

Sara stood from her chair, effectively halting Sophia's retort. "How about we go to CSI and I'll do the paperwork for your case while you talk to a sketch artist. Then when you're done I'll take you across to the Deli? Sound good?"

Shelly shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

Sara looked apologetically at Sophia as they walked out and down the hall to her CSI issued Denali that was parked outside.

* * *

While awaiting Shelly and the sketch artist, Sara sat at her workstation, first finishing up her paperwork then doing research on the internet. She typed in the keywords - 'December 1994, O'Brien, Chicago, Murder' then sat back and waited for Google to fork over results.

The first headline she read was from the Chicago Tribune. **'Young Girl Witnesses Mothers Be-heading.' **

The next was from the Chicago Star. **'6 Year Old Watches Mother Shot'**

Sara was about to scroll further down the screen until she felt his presence. When she did, she quickly minimized the window and brought up her paperwork.

"How is your case going?" Asked Gil Grissom, nightshift supervisor of the Crime Lab.

"It's going." She answered cryptically.

Grissom nodded and moved to lean against the edge of the desk, his arms folded across his chest in a gesture that showed how uncomfortable he was with the upcoming conversation. He was never one to confront personal problems with his personnel but with Sara, it seemed that work mixed with personal often, which made it his business. "I heard that you had a pretty stubborn victim today. How did everything go?" He asked softly.

Sara looked up at him for the first time, clearly confused. "Where did you hear that?"

He shrugged. "Sophia."

'Figures.' She thought.

"So, how did it go?" He asked again.

"It went fine, Grissom. Just fine. You don't need to keep worrying about me, you know." She said with the tiniest hint of agitation. Ever since the near DUI and her suspension-nudged child-hood confession, she felt he had been coddling her. 'He has been getting better.' She thought. 'But it's still annoying at times.'

Grissom nodded, knowing that the tone of her voice was his cue to drop it. "I just don't want you to get too personally involved." Before she could retort to his statement, he rested his right arm against the back of her chair and leaned in to her personal space, just enough for his shoulder to nudge the back of hershoulder lightly.

'Whoa.' She thought as she felt the heat resonating from his body. 'I know we've been working on getting back the friendship but we haven't been this close in years. Why is he doing this?' Although she was confused by his move, she still felt a jolt of happiness.

"Shift ended ten minutes ago. What are you working on?" He questioned lightly.

She shrugged. "Just finishing off a bit of paperwork."

"Okay, but you have two days off so why don't you go get started on that. This paperwork isn't going to get up and leave, you know." He teased. When Sara turned her head in his direction, he was so close to her that she could smell the shampoo that he used. She laughed inwardly at that thought.

"I'm just waiting on something from DNA then I'm out. I promise." She teased back.

He gave her a slightly disbelieving smirk then backed off. "Night Sara." He said as he walked toward the door.

"Technically it's morning Griss." He just shook his head and continued to leave, his gentle smile spreading slowly across his lips.

Once he was out the door, Sara shook her own head. "That was weird. But a good weird." She smiled. Her smile was quickly washed away when she closed down her paperwork and reopened the internet window. She printed off the two articles and closed that down too then went off in search of the DNA profile she asked for and then Shelly.


	3. Getting To Know The Past

**Chapter 2 – Getting To Know The Past**

"Can I ask you a question?" Sara asked tentatively after a bite of her veggie sandwich.

"You can ask anything you want, doesn't mean I'll answer." Shelly hid the sting of her words behind her grin.

Sara laughed. "You are so much like some of my co-workers." She shook her head lightly then turned serious. "Why are you so hostile towards law enforcement?"

Shelly looked down at her chicken strips and sighed. "Police haven't exactly helped me in my lifetime. I believe they have the wrong killer behind bars for my friend's murder. And they still haven't caught my best friend's and my… uhh… my best friend's rapist."

Shelly berated herself silently at her slip and kept her head down as Sara's eyebrow rose in suspicion. "We are trying to find who raped you Shells. I promise I won't stop 'til I do." She placed a hand comfortingly over Shelly's.

"Yeah, that's what the others said." Shelly mumbled.

"What?"

"Uhh, nothing. I have faith you'll catch him." Shelly plastered a bright smile on her face.

It was fake.

"Are you finished?" Sara asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. I'm not that hungry anymore."

"Okay. How about we head to my apartment. I have the next two nights off so you can stay with me if you want." Shelly smiled shyly and Sara could tell this was a real smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When they arrived at Sara's apartment, she pushed Shelly playfully into her bedroom for clothes. After finding a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants each, Shelly fell asleep on Sara's bed within seconds and Sara went out to the living room.

Before Sara had left work that morning, she had grabbed Shelly's DNA profile from Greg along with the case folder that held all the information about Shelly's father that she had told her.

With decaf-coffee in hand, a comfy seat on her sofa and soft music playing through the stereo, Sara opened the file and started her list about Shelly's father. She started with physical features that Shelly had told her about and that she had figured out herself just from looking at the young woman.

_**Hair** – Curly, brown, short_

_**Upper Body** – Broad shoulders, Est. height 5'10"–6', Muscular chest_

She thought to herself. 'Her mother had told her that she has his facial features.' So she wrote,

_**Face** – Blue eyes, Small nose, Soft/pink lips, High cheekbones, deep dimples, Cleft chin_

She was about to continue to brainstorm more about his personality when she was interrupted by a loud scream then a door slamming. Next came retching and soon after, dry heaves coming for her bathroom.

When she entered her bedroom and only came across tousled sheets, the mixed scent of sweat and vomit and the more gentler sounds of dry heaving coming from the bathroom, she realized that Shelly must have had a night terror.

She started to change the sheets as she heard the sink turn on. When she came back inside the room with fresh sheets, she heard a cupboard door closing. She smiled faintly, though slightly irritated at the intrusion of her privacy; she was happy and relieved that the scared yet strong young woman was comfortable in her company.

When Shelly exited the bathroom after washing her face, brushing her teeth, and swallowing a cap full of mouthwash, she saw Sara perched comfortably against the headboard of the bed.

With a supportive and understanding nod of her head, Sara beckoned Shelly over. After she sat down and wrapped her arms around Sara's neck, Sara asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Shelly pulled away slightly but relaxed into Sara's supportive arm left around her shoulders. "I … when my mother was uhh … killed," She chocked on the last word, "I was sent to many different houses." Shelly paused then took a quick glance at Sara. "How many houses did you get sent to?" She asked.

Sara knew the question was a stall tactic but she also realized that it could be because Shelly wanted to know that she could trust Sara with her burden. Although Sara only ever told Grissom about her past, albeit in minute detail, she felt a connection, an understanding with Shelly and so didn't feel too uncomfortable talking about it. Especially since she was going through everything that Sara had.

"I went through only three homes. I was twelve when I was thrust into the system so I didn't have as many years as you."

"You're lucky then and I wouldn't call them homes. Homes are where loving pictures hang and happy families live. I've never had or been inside a home. My best friend Celeste, we called her Cels, had a nice house but it still wasn't a home." Shelly took a deep breath. She turned back to Sara. "Do you have a best friend who you could trust everything with?"

Sara was caught off-guard. Thinking back to San Francisco, she knew she didn't have one there because it was all about her studies and work. That was until she met Gil Grissom, Entomologist Extraordinaire, as her friends and her had jokingly called him. That was until she met him at his seminar. They had become long distant friends but not best friends.

She thought about now, in Las Vegas. 'Griss and I were good friends but we screwed that up. Warrick is cool even after our rocky start but he's not someone I could tell everything to. Catherine and I are getting better but I still wouldn't ever label us friends, never mind best friends. Greg is a good friend but no. Jim is great but he's not a best friend. And Nick, he's probably the closest thing to a best friend here but still, no; I couldn't tell him everything.'

"No." She finally answered on a dejected sigh.

"I only have Cels. I was just starting to trust this one guy, the only guy I've ever thought of trusting but he turned out to be one of the biggest bastards I'd ever met."

"Was that to do with your dream?" Sara asked gently and when she felt Shelly tense, she gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

Shelly nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. When she could, she started in a voice a shade lower then a whisper. "He had me pinned. I couldn't do anything to help her."

"Help who?" Sara interrupted softly.

"Celeste. Her and I, we were spending a lot of time with this guy, Devion. He was pretending to be our friend. Cels already trusted him but I was still weary, and rightfully so." Shelly paused to take a ragged breath. "It wasn't the first time for me." She finished bitterly.

"Wasn't the first time you were attacked?"

"No, raped. And it wasn't the last either. We were 14 then, he was 18. The next time I was…" She swallowed hard, "raped was when I graduated high school. I was 16."

"You graduated a year early? Congratulations."

Shelly half-smiled at Sara's attempt to lighten the mood but quickly turned serious again. "He was my former foster care-giver…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly stood up from her place on the sofa to see who was at the door. She had returned home early from her school's graduation celebration to get ready for the party that her friends were holding for her. She had already changed and was ready to be picked up so she sat waiting, writing in her poetry notebook.

When a knock came at the door, she grabbed her over-night bag from the chipped wooden table that sat in the hall and opened the door, fully expecting her friend J-Q to be standing there ready to leave. "Hey J…" Before she could say anymore she was shoved back into the house, her bag dropping to the floor.

"Where is your room?" The man growled.

Shelly punched the masked man in the stomach and tried to pull her left wrist out of the man's grasp but instead he managed to tighten his grip enough to make her fall to one knee. "No fighting Shim, just tell me where your room is and we can enjoy the rest of our time there until Miss Rusterin comes home from her every night drunk fest."

'He knows me.' Was the only thing she thought when she heard him call her by her nickname, Shim. J-Q gave her that nickname when she proved that she could shimmy open any lock on any door in no time flat.

As she thought about that, the assailant had dragged her halfway down the hall. She started to flail and kick, hoping to nip the assailant even the slightest bit that way he would be thrown off-balance and she could run but it was to no avail. He continued to drag her until they were in front of a door labeled 'Shim's room. Stay the FUCK out! That means you Ruster'

"Ahhh, Shelly, always the bitch I see."

"Only to assholes who deserve it." He tossed open the door and threw her onto her bed then pounced on her forcefully, pinning her hips with his and her wrists with his hands. She could feel his arousal sitting against her thigh and started to struggle some more but again, to no avail. "Who the fuck are you?" She yelled.

He shook his head in a sad manner then tsked. "Am I that easy to forget, Shelly-babe?"

Her eyes opened wide at the nickname. She saw the assailant smile evilly before he shifted both of her hands into his right then with his left, flung his mask off. "Rhory." She gasped.

"Hi Shelly-babe. Did you miss me as much as I missed you?" She was paralyzed with frightened recognition. Instead of replacing his left hand to her wrists, he brought it down and ripped her shirt off. His arousal grew bigger at the sound of Shelly's scream. "Don't fight me babe. Nobody can hear you now. Rusterin is out getting drunk and the little ones are all out fuckin' doing god-knows-what. Besides, if anyone heard you, why would they even care? You've done nothing to help them so why would they help you?"

As Rhory bent down to kiss her neck, Shelly bit down hard on the exposed flesh where his neck and shoulder met; it only helped in making him more aroused.

He tore down her pants then whispered, "Thank you for wearing the baggy pants tonight Shelly-babe. It's definitely a time savor." He then ripped down her underwear before unzipping his own jeans.

She screamed in agony as he penetrated her. The whole time he was raping her he whispered sentiments of love in her ear, seemingly imagining her cries of pain as cries of pleasure.

She tried to fight back but it only increased his enjoyment so she finally decided to detach her mind from her body and let her mind wonder over other things such as the baseball scores and when the next game was going to be. Her mind was brought back to her body when Rhory bit her right ear then growled. Just as he was about to find release he whispered softly, "I have waited many years to give you this graduation present Shelly-babe. Ever since they took you from me four years ago. I only hope it was as enjoyable for you as it is for me" With that he found his release.

He didn't get off her right away; instead he lied there on top of her until he heard someone knock at the door a few minutes later. Before getting up he whispered in her ear again, "I hope this time you won't forget me." He then quickly stood up, zipped up his jeans, hopped out her bedroom window and ran.

She lied still in her bed, not even moving when she heard footsteps slowly creeping towards her room. 'If he's coming back then let him, I just don't give a shit anymore.' She thought.

Celeste was walking up to her friend's room and yelled, "Shim, I'm coming in. Your door was unlocked so I hope you don't mind that I just…" She stopped short at the sight of her friend lying in bed with silent tears streaming down her face. She was lying flat on her back, bruises already on her wrists and a tiny bit of blood seeping onto the sheets from between her legs. "Oh god Shelly. Not again." She whispered before running to the side of the bed and dragging her friend into her arms.

Shelly pushed gently at Celeste. "I need to shower and get ready for the party." She said in a voice so hollow and empty that it brought more tears to Celeste's eyes then seeing her friend lying after being raped had.

"No Shells, don't be stupid." She pulled out her cell phone and dialed J-Q. When she finished her call she turned back to Shelly who was looking straight ahead, supposedly at her wall of posters but Celeste knew that she wasn't really seeing anything. "Fuck tha party Shells. We stayin' right here tonight. Nobody's ever going to hurt either one of us ever again, you hear me? Never." Celeste sat and rocked her friend to sleep then stayed with her for the rest of the night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Little did we know at the time that he gave me a gift that would last a lifetime."

Sara gasped almost inaudibly. "He got you pregnant." She stated softly.

Shelly nodded. "A gorgeous, blue eyed, blonde haired little boy and despite the way he was conceived I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I love my son." Shelly's smile was bright, genuine, and full of love. Sara smiled through her shock.

"He was and still is my life savor; Cels too for that matter. We were going through gun gangs and everything, except drugs. I would never, ever sell that death to kids. Yet," Shelly's expression was thoughtful then quickly regretful, "I sold them guns."

She looked to Sara expecting to see disgust but instead met with understanding.

"I know what you went through. Although I never sold guns or drugs or even got into gangs, I do understand how going through what you did would make you seek family. The gangs, they became your family." Sara pulled her closer. "But remember, you got out."

Shelly nodded against Sara's shoulder. "Because of my baby boy, I did."

"What's his name?" Sara whispered as she felt Shelly dozing off again.

Shelly yawned. "Brennan Gillian Dulson O'Brien." And in the comfort and warmth of Sara's arms, Shelly fell into peaceful slumber.

A few minutes later Sara pulled away gently, as not to awake the sleeping teen, and scooted into the living room to add to the profile she was building on Shelly's father.

_**Personality** – Strong willed, Stubborn, Compassionate, Soft hearted when family involved…_

She decided that she should get some sleep so she could have the energy to keep up with Shelly the next two nights. She fell into sleep thinking, 'First, we'll go out to eat, then shopping for clothes for her, then we can go to the 24 hour coaster, then whatever she wants…'


	4. Getting To Know You

A/N: The next two chapters are pretty much full of great big fluff with a little bit of angst crème filling. It's basically just to get to know Shelly and to see the connection with her and Sara grow. Also, there are **very** subtle hints as to whom the father is … as if you smarties don't already know.:) … I hope you enjoy the scene with Ecklie (It's my favorite so far):)

I apologize now, because I don't want to offend anyone by it, but the swearing is a must in this story for character background.

**Mochaccino Girl**- I am very sorry if my A/N in the prologue offended you or anyone else. The truth is that I do read a few OOC stories so my words were a bit harsh and hypocritical. Again, I do apologize for it.

Now on with the show … err … story. :)

P.S. The next two should be long ones

**Chapter 3 – Getting To Know You**

* * *

**6:13pm Friday**

"Miss Sidle?"

Sara rolled onto her right side, her face squishing into the back of the sofa. "Miss Sidle?" Shelly nudged her shoulder but Sara only squirmed some more.

"I hate to do this." She sadly whispered, but her evil grin told otherwise. "Sara!"

Sara jumped, span in place, forgetting for the moment that she was on her couch, then crashed to the floor. After catching her breath from laughing so hard, Shelly went to help Sara up by grabbing her arm but Sara snatched it away and mock-glared up at the still snickering teen.

"Sorry, but you weren't waking up the other way." Shelly continued to laugh.

Sara growled as she pulled herself back onto the couch. She sat there for a few minutes, willing her heart to slow down, and then turned and faced Shelly. "What do you want smart-ass?" She growled playfully.

"I umm…" Shelly quickly turned shy. "I, actually, I didn't want to go through your cupboards to find breakfast, or I guess it would be dinner, without your permission and I'm kind of starving."

Sara smiled, amazed at the multiple personalities that this young girl had shown in the last twenty hours. She went from intelligent to standoffish at the crime scene; pissed at the station; confident with the sketch artist; uncomfortable at the diner; shy when they came to the apartment; scared when she had the night terror; weary when she told of her rape; playful when she awoke Sara a couple minutes ago; and now she was shy again. Sara shook her head lightly. 'Something about this girl just …'

"We aren't going to eat here if that's alright with you Shells. I don't have much in the way of appetizing, especially since I'm sure you aren't a vegetarian."

Shelly gave a non-committable shrug of her shoulder. "I'm not a big fan of meat but I didn't have much of a choice growing up, you know?"

Sara nodded. "So, I thought that we could go out for something to eat. Sound good to you?"

Shelly smiled and nodded. "Sounds good." She then looked down at herself and back to the bedroom where her dirty, week old clothes, lay on the ground beside Sara's hamper.

"Don't worry about that." Sara started. "I'll lend you a pair of clean clothes for now and after we eat we can hit one of the malls or outlet places."

"It's Friday, still a weekday, and it's just past six. We still have to find a place to eat and by the time we finish it it would be pushing past nine and by that time all the stores should be closed or at least closing."

Sara laughed which made Shelly blush and look at her quizzically. "You haven't been in Las Vegas long that's for sure. Shells, Vegas is full of twenty-four hour every things. Food, clothing, movie, fun stuff, there's an area called 'The Strip' that never closes. We can go there."

Shelly nodded and smiled. "Do they have any sports stores there? I'm not a big fan of the girly girly shit. Wait… I…" Shelly looked down shyly again. "I didn't come here expecting to get money or hand outs, Miss Sidle. I'm used to wearing the same clothes for a couple days, washing them, then wearing them for a couple more days."

Sara looked at her with a look of disgust. Shelly smiled slightly, knowing her disgust was towards the clothing not herself. "Or … sometimes my friends and I would steal clothes but I don't like dropping myself to that level."

"First things first, it's Sara, not Miss Sidle. Now, you'll ignore the fact that you don't want my money or any 'hand-outs' as you call them, and we'll go shopping. It's not handouts, kiddo, I truly do want to help you. So, we're going for food then we're going to go down to The Strip and find you some clean and comfortable clothes. Deal?"

Shelly gave her a shy but genuinely happy smile and nodded. "Deal."

**6:57pm**

As they listened and sang along to "Sometimes Wanna Die" by Joydrop, Sara turned a quick glance at Shelly and said, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a good voice?"

Shelly stopped singing and ducked her chin to her chest, her shy smile permanently set. After a few minutes, Shelly started singing again and that was the only other sound in the car, besides the radio, for the rest of the drive.

They sat looking over their menus at the 'Little Italian' and commenting lightly on the different foods that Shelly had only ever heard about. As soon after the host came by to drop off their drinks and take their orders, the table was engulfed in uncomfortable silence; Sara not wanting to say anything that would cause the kid any more hurt and Shelly not saying anything because she didn't know how much this crime scene investigator wanted to get involved.

Sara sat, thinking, 'I'm not a shrink but even I can tell that she needs to talk to someone. I need to make her trust me enough but the only way how is uncomfortable.' She shook her head lightly. 'Too bad for me.'

"Shelly," When she had the girls attention she continued. "I've got an idea that would probably help the both of us."

"What is it?"

"How about, for the next couple days at least, we have no filters with each other."

"What does that mean?"

Sara smiled, "What I mean is, I propose a deal that for as long as I'm helping you find your father, we should be able to talk with no filters."

"You mean, tell each other everything?"

"Yeah. I think it would be good for the both of us to be able to tell someone our burdens; anything and everything with no regrets and no judging."

"A way to get shit off our chests?" Shelly asked and Sara nodded. "Deal. At least this is a whole hell of a lot cheaper then a shrink." They laughed again and enjoyed the rest of their meal, only talking of 'safe' topics until they got out of public.

**8****:30pm**

After they hungrily devoured their dessert of Tiramisù, which Shelly was quick to inform Sara means 'Pull-me-up' in Italian, they left the restaurant and headed down 'Las Vegas Blvd' to 'The Fashion Show Mall.'

As soon as they stepped foot in the mall, Shelly made a quick beeline for the nearest sports shop, Champs. Once there, however, she quickly became her shy self.

Sensing Shelly's discomfort, Sara was quick to sooth her. "Remember, I told you that I don't mind spending the money. You need new clothes. In fact, think of it this way; when we find your father, he can pay me back that way it's _his_ money we're spending." Sara gave her a wink.

Shelly smiled and moved over to the right. There she grabbed a few pairs of socks and other undergarments.

Next they headed for the shirts. Shelly's eyes widened at the magnitude of different styles, sports teams, and brand names that were available. "You've never been to a store this big have you?" Sara asked when she noticed the young girls expression, which quickly turned regretful.

"Actually, I have. There's a huge mall named Water Tower Place that my friends and I would hang out at in Chicago. That's where we did most of our uhhh … 'Five-finger-discount shopping.'" She paused and looked back at the shirt selections. "It's just, it didn't have this many brands and shit. This place is huge." That said, she practically ran towards the baseball section and quickly pointed out a Chicago Cubs, navy blue t-shirt. "I love that one."

"Then why don't you grab it and try it on in one of the dressing rooms?"

"Nah uh. No way. I am _not_ subjecting myself to the chance of being videotaped. My friends all say I'm just being paranoid but some stores tape the dressing rooms so I'm not doing that. No way." She shook her head vehemently.

"Okay, okay." Sara laughed. "Put it in." Shelly smiled and dropped the shirt into the cart.

There were a few more plain black and blue shirts in the far corner so Shelly grabbed one of each of those.

They headed over to a section of sweatshirts. "Do you mind if I get myself a sweater too?" Shelly asked.

"It's the middle of February so it shouldn't get too cold for too much longer but sure, get it. I told you, whatever you want, grab it." Sara smiled as Shelly grabbed a sweatshirt that was again of the Chicago Cubs. "Let me guess, Chicago Cubs are your favorite baseball team?"

"Yeah," Shelly's smile was bright. "They're my favorite in the Nation League. The Toronto Blue Jays are my favorite team in the American League."

"Doesn't Chicago have two baseball teams? Shouldn't that team be your second favorite?" Sara asked perplexed.

Shelly's mouth hung open. She started to laugh as she shook her head. "Hell no! I would never cheer for the White Sox. Those South side bastards won the World Series this year over my Cubbies and that's just not right. In fact, I'd rather be shot again then have to watch them carry on a parade with _my_ teams championship." Shelly shook her head again as she walked towards the pants section.

"You mean you've been shot before?" Sara asked incredulously.

Shelly cringed. She didn't exactly want that little tidbit out there. "Well, the Gun Runners is a dangerous occupation." She said flippantly.

"How many times were you shot?" Sara asked as they looked over the pants in front of them.

"Twice. Once in the shoulder when I was thirteen and then the second time the bullet just grazed my lower oblique area. I should've gone in to get stitches but I didn't."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I was fifteen years old and being tutored to be the leader of the East division of the Gun Runners and it would be seen as weak." She stated in a 'Duh, isn't it obvious' tone.

"Have you ever shot someone?" Sara asked hesitantly, unsure if she really wanted to know if this young girl could actually take another persons life.

"Hell no. I was in it for the family atmosphere and the money, that's it. I would never kill another living being. Though, I did have to shoot _at_ people but I always made sure I missed them, that way it would seem like I just sucked at shooting."

Sara nodded, pleased that she had never shot anyone. "In order to be able to miss every time you must know your way around guns."

"I know enough." Shelly smiled as she picked out two pairs of khakis, one black pair and one blue and set them into the shopping cart.

They continued to walk as they talked about, more like Shelly told Sara about, most of the sports equipment and apparel that they passed. "How the hell do you know all the tiniest details about stupid shit like this?" Sara asked.

Shelly shrugged. "I just have to walk past a sign and I can remember the details. I'm told it's a gift but it can also be a pain in the ass."

"Why would it be a pain in the ass?"

"Because I could, at times, have what Cels calls 'Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth' and people get very annoyed when you start spouting off at the mouth about shit they don't really care to know." Shelly shrugged and then bolted towards a stand in the middle of the 'Jersey Department.' "I _have_ to get this." Shelly grinned.

She pulled the Chicago Cubs baseball jersey off its hanger and held it against herself. She took a peak at the price tag and turned green. Sara almost laughed; the look on Shelly's face was so funny. "This is too much." Shelly sighed and went to hang the jersey back up when Sara's hand stopped her.

"I'm sure you get one of the ones that don't have a name on the back. They don't cost as much."

Shelly placed it back on the rack and grabbed one without name. "Can I really get one?" Shelly's smile was so wide that there was no way that Sara could say no so she smiled back and nodded.

"Sara."

Her smile was gone.

She turned in the direction the voice came from and grimaced. "Ecklie, I wouldn't expect to see you here."

"Well, I'm here to pick up a few things that I forgot for the camping trip that I'm taking my son on. Who is this young lady?" Conrad Ecklie said in his always-smarmy voice. Being the ever-political monkey, he pushed out his hand for Shelly to shake.

"The name is Shelly." She looked down at Ecklie's hand that was still extended between them and pointed to it, "I don't touch other people; Germ phobia." And with that, she turned around to look at the hats that were being displayed.

Ecklie stood looking at the back of Shelly's head with shocked annoyance. Sara had to try her hardest to keep the laugh from bubbling out of her. Obviously, from Ecklie's glare, she didn't succeed at hiding the smile but when Ecklie went to comment, Shelly turned back around. "I'm sorry, Mr. Eakie, but the camping shit is way over there." She said as she pointed to the other side of the store. "Now if you don't mind," Shelly grabbed Sara's arm and started pulling her towards the shoes while pushing the cart with the other hand. "My sister and I are going to be looking for shoes. See ya." She continued to pull Sara until they were around the corner and out of view from Ecklie.

"Shelly-" Sara started to chide but was cut off.

"Sorry." Shelly ducked her head and continued sheepishly. "Remember the whole 'Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth' thing? Well, it also gets me in trouble because I don't think about consequences of my words. Who was he anyway?" She asked as she looked up.

"He was my boss."

"Oh, whoops." Shelly said with a smile.

"Yeah whoops."

"It's okay, he gave me the creeps anyway. I had to get rid of him."

Sara sighed and finally let the smile she was trying to hide show. "So what did you grab back there?"

"This," Shelly took off her old and beaten Cubs baseball cap and pulled on a black 'FlexSeam' baseball cap with the Toronto Blue Jays logo on the front. "No outfit is complete without my hat."

"Why's that?"

"I have no clue."

Shelly took a quick look around the shoes but saw nothing she immediately liked. "What exactly are you looking for?" Sara asked.

"Anything that is comfortable, affordable, lasting, and _not_ affiliated in any way with Nike."

"Why not Nike?"

"So many reasons." She took a few steps around the wide corner and saw the perfect pair. She tried on the black, blue and yellow pair of 2XS Sports running shoes and nodded. "These are the ones."

**9:55pm**

They stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the mall and stared at each other for a second. "What now?" Shelly asked.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"First I want to walk back to the car and put these bags away. Then … I don't know. What do you do for fun?"

"Fun?"

"Yeah, fun. What do you like to do when you're off duty?"

"Uhhh…" 'Wasn't it just a couple years ago Grissom was asking the same thing?' Sara thought. "Well, I like to watch TV, read books, listen to my scanner."

"Uh huh. Anything else?"

Silence.

"Okay then." Shelly looked around as she thought about some things to do. She looked across the street and saw a sign for the Cirque Du Soleil. "The Chicago Tribune called that," She pointed to the sign, "'One of the most innovative and exciting shows to be seen anywhere.'"

"You want to go see the Cirque Du Soleil?" Sara asked.

"Sure. I've read that it's fun."

"Okay then, let's go."

**12:45am Saturday**

"That was awesome!"

Sara smiled and nodded her head. "How about we grab a movie and bring it back to my apartment. We can watch that and maybe talk if you want." Sara suggested.

"Sure … wait!" Shelly's face turned strained. "What time is it?"

Sara looked at her watch, "12:46. Why?"

"Shit!" Shelly reached down to her hip but found nothing was there. "Shit, shit, double shit! Where the hell is my phone?"

Sara grabbed Shelly's shoulders and stopped her from pacing. "Your phone was taken into evidence. If it's an emergency that you need it then we can go back to the lab and I can see what strings I can pull to get it back for you."

"Yes! Yes I need it. Debbie phones every night at ten. Damn it."

Sara asked no further questions as they drove to the lab.

**1:14am**

They entered the lab at a brisk pace, Shelly's mounting anxiety making Sara weary. After quickly signing in with Judy, the receptionist, and getting a visitor pass for Shelly they took off towards the evidence room.

"Hey Steve." Sara greeted the evidence room clerk who nodded in return.

"What do you need from which case?" He asked.

"Case – 0054108, O'Brien, and it's the cell phone I'm looking for." Steve nodded and went to grab the cell.

Sara pulled out her own and dialed Greg Sanders, who was added to the case by Grissom when Greg closed his case the night before.

"Sanders."

"Hey Greg, it's Sara."

"Hey Sar. How's your night off going? What are you up to?" He asked with his ever-present cheer.

"It's going well." She answered flippantly. "I need to know something and if you don't answer correctly then I need a favor."

"Uhhh, okay then. What's up?" He asked tentatively.

"Have you processed the cell phone in the O'Brien case?"

"I didn't think it was a priority. Why?"

"I need you to process it. I'm down at the evidence locker right now picking it up so I'll bring it to you in a few minutes."

"I'll meet you in layout room two." He said before hanging up.

Greg saw Sara walking down the hall and pushed the case folder to the side. "Hey, I made an extra coffee for you." Sara reached for it after placing the phone on the table. "Are you going to tell me why this is a rush all of a sudden?"

"The owner of the phone would like it back a.s.a.p. That's why." Sara answered cryptically.

Greg got down to work, fingerprinting as he spoke. "Did it belong to the suspect or the victim?"

"I am not a fuckin' victim!" Greg jumped at the sound of Shelly's outburst.

Sara spun around and pushed Shelly into the corner of the room. "Do that again and I'll have to take you out of here and we'll have to wait for your phone in the parking lot. Understood? You already mouthed off my boss so please don't cause any trouble here." Shelly nodded and apologized but her anxiety was still visible.

"You mean she mouthed off Grissom?" Greg asked in surprise.

"No, Ecklie."

He cringed then laughed as Shelly's grumbled, "Yeah, well, he creeps me out."

"I hear ya kid. The guy creeps me out too and I have to work for him." Greg countered as he went back to work on the phone.

He stopped, mid print, when he heard Shelly reply, "Well, I wouldn't mind working for him." Both Sara and Greg's necks cracked in unison as they swung their heads in Shelly's direction.

"Dude, tell me I misheard you." Greg begged. When Shelly shook her head he sighed. "You really want to work for Ecklie?" She shook her head again. "That's what I thought." He laughed softly.

"What I meant is that I wouldn't mind working here."

Greg nodded. "It is a cool place. Especially when you get to work with smart, awesome people like Sara here or like Grissom, our boss."

"I thought Ecklie was your boss?" Shelly asked as she hesitantly took the stool next to Greg. 'He may be male but if Sara trusts him enough to work with him…' She thought.

"Yeah, he's the assistant director and therefore our boss but Grissom, he's our true boss man. He's the supervisor of our merry band of idiots here on nightshift."

Shelly laughed as she got more comfortable and watched as Greg swabbed for her assailants DNA. Sara also laughed, becoming more comfortable as Shelly's anxiety seemed to dissipate.

"So, what made you want to become a weary traveler in our less then humble abode, Chicago?" Greg asked, adding his own nickname for Shelly.

Sara was about to ask Greg to drop the subject when Shelly answered, in a voice so calm that even Sara, who knew the turmoil this kid was going through, wouldn't have guessed anything was happening out of the ordinary.

"You know, I've read that the lights of Vegas could be seen from a plane at maximum elevation."

"So you're here to see the lights of Vegas?" Greg asked in a disbelieving tone, giving her a sideways glance before picking up the phone and wiping the print dust from it.

"Among other things." Sara was surprised to hear the flirting tone coming from Shelly, the girl who told her she would never trust men. Greg gave a flirtatious smile right back and handed the phone over to Sara who had pulled on gloves. She began to check it over quickly to make sure nothing was missed.

"I just need Greg to sign the chain of custody papers and then we can go back to the Evidence room and sign off that you can take it." Sara said to Shelly. Shelly smiled a goodbye to Greg, which he immediately returned, and walked out of the room. When Sara reached the door, she turned and joked over her shoulder, "She's only 18 Greggo." The last thing she saw was Greg's blush as he packed up the prints and swabs to be analyzed.

* * *

Shelly wasted no time after strapping into the passenger's seat as she quickly flipped open her cell phone and checked her missed messages. The only name that Sara saw when she took a quick peak at a red light was the name 'FostmaDeb' which appeared at least nine times in the seconds that Sara was able to peak.

Shelly pushed speed dial one and waited for the person on the other end to answer.

"_Oh my god Shelly. I was - **am** so worried about you. What the hell happened that you couldn't pick up your god damn phone and answer me?"_

Shelly pulled the speaker away from her ear and, when Sara gave her a questioning stare, she gave Sara a sheepish smile. "I take it you could hear her." Sara nodded and smiled back.

"_SHELLY! What the fuck is going on?"_

"Debbie, please, Lil' B doesn't need to be woken up from you swearing and screaming like a lunatic."

"Whatever. Are you all right? Will you be coming home soon? Have you found your father yet? What's going on with you?"

"Yes, no, no and lots." Shelly laughed as Debbie growled at her cryptic answers.

"I thought we got over your obsessive need for privacy kid. I want to know what happened to you, now."

Sara continued to drive as Shelly detailed the events of the past two days to Debbie. When they arrived at the video store Shelly opted to stay in the car while Sara went in.

"So tell me more about this person who's taken you in. She better be treating you good."

"Sara is treating me just fine Deb. It's actually been awesome."

"_So Sara has been good?"_

"I repeat … she's been awesome."

"_She hasn't just been buttering you up, getting ready to catch you un-aware?"_

"Now look who's paranoid." Shelly laughed. "What would she be doing to me un-aware?"

"I don't know. I guess living with you full time for the past six months has made me a bit edgy when it comes to strangers. Your paranoia has rubbed off on me."

"Nice excuse Deb. Put B on the phone for me please."

"_He's asleep."_ Debbie protested lightly knowing that wouldn't stop Shelly.

"Your point?"

She sighed and started off for Brennan's room. _"This is just too cute."_ She said as she looked in to the crib. _"I'll phone you back in a second."_ Shelly hung up and smiled as Debbie took a shot of her sleeping boy. When the phone started to vibrate, she ignored it and instead, waited for it to ring.

She flipped it open and answered with, "Camera phones kick ass." just as Sara got back into the car.

"_Yes they do. Now aren't you glad that I didn't listen to your protests when I bought the damn thing for you."_ Debbie replied as she gently woke Brennan up.

"Yes. I'm not sorry that I protested though. They were a lot of money that you didn't need to spend but I thank you. Without it I wouldn't be able to see my baby." Sara raised her brow at Shelly as she started the ignition and took off home.

"_Brennan is awake so hold on."_

Shelly waited until she heard his gurgling then spoke, "Hey Baby B. How's my lil' boy?" Brennan giggled at the sound of his mom's voice. "Have you been behaving for Fostma Deb?" All she got in return was giggling and many lines of nonsensical gibberish. She laughed along with her son. "Well I hate to leave you again Baby B but you need to get back to sleep. I miss and love you very much."

As she waited for Debbie, Shelly turned to Sara. "Because of the fuckin' long distance charges I don't get much but at least I get to say hi and he get to hear my voice, you know?" Sara nodded.

"So I sent the picture and I'll send more tomorrow. I have to get this one back to sleep and then get to sleep myself. You do realize what time it is correct?"

"Were you sleeping when I phoned?"

"Well … no."

They both laughed. "Then don't bitch. I knew you'd want to hear from me as soon as I got my phone back. I'll talk to you later Deb. Love you." Shelly hung up after hearing the sentiment returned. When she looked over to Sara, she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you laughing?"

Sara pulled into the parking lot of her apartment and killed the engine. She turned to look at Shelly as she opened the door. "To hear you, 'Shelly the Hard Ass', speaking in soft tones to a baby was just very sweet."

"Shut up." They both laughed.

"So, what is a 'Fostma.'" Sara asked as they grabbed the shopping bags.

"'Fost' for foster and 'ma' for mother. Hence; Fostma, short for foster mother." Shelly answered as they walked up the walkway to the apartment.

**2:52am**

Shelly sat down on the sofa with her popcorn resting on her legs, ready and waiting for Sara to come sit down and start the first movie of the night. "The first movie will be 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and the second one, which I got just for you since you're such a big fan of baseball, is 'Bull Durham.' I was told that it's pretty damn funny." Sara shrugged as she sat down.

"Thanks." Shelly said as Sara handed her a glass of pop.

"Now, let's get one thing straight right now," Sara started. "For the next four-and-a-half hours there will be no sharing, no burdens, no problems, no cases, just rest and relaxation. That is it." They shook hands and started the movie.

By 6:30, half way through the second movie, they were both fast asleep.

* * *

I want to thank everyone who reviewed. I appreciate the time you take to write your opinions. :) Mange Tak.


	5. Stories Pt I

A/N: I apologize for the long wait between chapters. I had a family emergency. (My 14-year-old bro had to be choppered off Whistler Mountain to the Children's hospital and was in a coma for 24 hours). And between that and Christmas and New Years, I haven't had time to post.

A/N2: I had a different plan for this chapter but I changed it because I didn't want to have two overly fluffy chapters back-to-back. This one is still the background on Shelly but I made it so it wasn't just Sara asking her questions. I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 4 - Stories**

**12:30pm Saturday**

Sara awoke with a stiff neck and popcorn spread across her living room floor. She looked over to her right and saw Shelly's sleeping form, which made her smile as she sat up. She walked towards her bedroom to change her clothes and get ready for the afternoon. She opened her shirt drawer and noticed the file folder that had 'SO' written on its tab.

She pulled it out of the drawer and opened it on her dresser. Inside were the notes she had taken on Shelly's father and the page showing Shelly's DNA profile that she took from Greg. The two pages that stood out to her eyes however were the two articles that she had printed off about Shelly's mother's murder; the headlines jumped so far out at her that she had to quickly slam the folder shut.

_What this girl went through._ Sara shook her head. _It's so depressing, the fact that I can understand. She witnessed her mother's death while I witnessed my father's. Thankfully I'm here though. I can help her through this._

Sara's stomach growled as she got dressed which reminded her that she had yet to get food for herself and Shelly. She headed to the grocery store, planning to read the articles if Shelly wasn't up by the time she got back.

She wasn't.

Sara put the groceries away quietly, so as not to wake Shelly, and then walked back to her room. She grabbed the folder and set up camp on her bed. She pulled out the first article and started to read:

_Chicago Tribune …December 16th, 1994_

'_**Young Girl Witnesses Mother's Be-heading.'**_

_A little girl's life was changed in the matter of seconds in the undergrounds of East Chicago on Wednesday night, December 14th. Six-year-old Shelly Gillian O'Brien was witness to her own mother's brutal death as she hid in the kitchen cupboards of their rundown apartment on Riverden Road._

_The killer brutally beat 29-year-old Rebekah Elizabeth O'Brien and then shot her in the head before turning his attention on the young girl. It is reported that he then grabbed Shelly forcefully by her upper-arms out from the cupboards and proceeded to "ask many questions about my mommy's 'stuff'. If I gave him the wrong answer he hit me."_

_It is said that little Shelly grew violent with paramedics as they wheeled her four-year-old sister, Hailie-Bec O'Brien's, lifeless body away from the scene and into an awaiting coroner's van. Reports say that Hailie-Bec's body was found in the girls' bedroom, suffocated in her bed with signs of sexual assault. Shelly was found curled into the fetal position at the head of her mother's bed, hands tied and mouth gagged with a washcloth; she was also sexually assaulted. The murder weapon used on her mother, a nine-millimeter semi-automatic, was found on the bedside table with an empty magazine._

_Shelly's eyewitness report was that the killer was her mother's live-in boyfriend, Kyson Kurner, a known drug addict and dealer. The police are currently working on the evidence found on the suspect, who was picked up last night at a strip club a few blocks from the crime scene._

_The theory being reported is that Kyson Kurner came home work that night and wanted to 'shoot up' with his girlfriend, the victim. "Mommy kept yelling that she didn't have any 'stuff'. When I heard them yelling I ran for my room but I 'membered my sister was sleepin' so I ran into my hiding place." Said Shelly O'Brien. "After I heard a big bang, he grabbed my arm and threw me into my mommy's room. He left me there. I heard screaming from my sister but I didn't move. He told me not to."_

_It is speculated that that is when he sexually assaulted and killed four-year-old Hailie-Bec before returning to Shelly in her mother's room where he preceded to sexually assault her. "We heard sirens. That's when he ran away from me."_

_Kyson Kurner is currently in custody and will be looking at charges of two counts rape with a minor, one count murder, and one count of murder in the first degree. _

Sara wiped at the tears that came to her eyes as she finished reading the article. She took a sip of the water she had brought in to sooth her now scratchy throat then picked up the second article.

_Chicago Star … December 16th, 1994_

_**6-Year-Old Watches Mother Shot**_

She skimmed through the first three quarters of the article, which was pretty much a repeat of the first article. She started looking intently at the last paragraph when a new name was mentioned.

_This isn't the first loss in the family for Shelly whose younger sister was a twin. Hailie-Bec's twin brother, Sylis Alexandar O'Brien, was three months old when he was killed via shaken baby syndrome on January 1st, 1991. Sylis and Hailie-Bec's father, Darin Pooler, also a known drug dealer, was charged with the manslaughter for the death of baby Sylis after his defense of 'diminished capacity' was disallowed. He claimed to be "too drunk to remember a gddamn thing" after a New Years party but Judge Garrish didn't take the bait and so Darin stood trial and lost. His first parole hearing is not until February 1997._

Sara sat; taken aback by the story this article was telling her. The brilliant and strong young Irish teen sleeping on her couch in her living room had lived a life no one should. Sara again wiped at the tears that dragged trails down her cheeks as she closed up the file. _I am truly amazed_. She thought as she stored the folder back into her shirt drawer. _She is who she is now by total self-control._ Sara stood and shook herself mentally before heading into the living room with a book.

* * *

Shelly awoke to the smells of toast, eggs, coffee, and 'Is that pancakes?' She stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen where she found Sara standing in front of the stove singing gently as she flip another pancake.

"What are you doing?"

Sara started and turned around quickly at the sound of Shelly's voice. "What do you think I'm doing?" She said flippantly then turned back around to finish the pancakes. "I woke up a few hours ago and remembered that I still had nothing to eat in the apartment so I went to the store and bought some pancake batter and eggs."

"But, that's a breakfast meal and it's," Shelly looked at the clock hanging over the stove, "3:30 in the afternoon."

"Yeah, well…" Sara turned around and placed the plate of pancakes on the table, "welcome to the life of a night shifter."

Shelly sat down at the table and asked about the other 'night shifters' that Sara worked with as they ate their meals.

"Which one do I start with?" Sara sighed dramatically, which made them both laugh lightly.

"How about you start with the one that you said I remind you of when we were at the diner." Shelly suggested.

"Well, I said you remind me of all of them because you do. Your humor kind of reminds me of Greggo; your politeness, when you want to be, reminds me of Nicky; your swagger reminds me of Warrick; your self-confidence reminds me of Catherine; and your, I don't know, there is just something about you that reminds me of my boss, Grissom." Shelly noticed the small smile in Sara's eyes when she talked of Grissom's name.

"You like him." Shelly stated as she took another bite of her pancakes.

Sara looked up sharply and gazed into Shelly's dancing eyes. "I don't know who you're talking about." Sara looked down at her plate with a small smile that she couldn't control.

Shelly tsked, "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Sara asked perplexed.

"Lie. It doesn't look good on you and from all that I've learnt of you, you don't do that well." That time Sara didn't even try to hide her smile as she took another bite of her meal. "Besides," Shelly started, "You're the one that made up this deal thing that says we speak what's on our minds. No regret, no judging. So spill it."

Sara shook her head lightly. "Nothing to spill." Shelly gave her a disbelieving look that made her sigh. "I met him at a seminar when I went to Berkley in San Francisco. I asked many questions and he took me out to coffee afterwards so that he could get my opinion on the seminar. From there we kept in contact with emails." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Shelly glared at her. "Then how did you end up here working for him?"

"I was a CSI in San Fran when he called me up because he needed me to come in and investigate something internally and after that was done, he offered me a job and I took it. No big deal."

"Oh please. You just get up and move because he asked you to?"

"I didn't just get up and move because he asked me to." She was a little defensive. "He offered me a great job at the second best lab in the country and I took it, no questions asked. It's a great job." Sara smiled sadly.

"Great job but something is wrong." Shelly stated gently.

"It's just that…" Sara looked at the girl sitting across the table from her and thought her words through carefully. _True, Shelly seems older then normal teens her age but does she really need the problems of a grown up's love life to think about?_ But then Sara remembered the deal and sighed. Shelly gave her a patient look.

"It's just that this job kind of takes some stuff away from my life that I wouldn't mind having." Sara answered cryptically.

"Like a social/love life?" Shelly smiled at Sara's questioningly pointed look. "You haven't received any phone calls from friends nor have you even checked your emails. You haven't mentioned anything about friends outside of your workplace and your apartment doesn't look to have any male influence, which tells me that you most likely don't have a boyfriend or at least the relationship is very new. And if the latter was the case then I must say you two are pathetic because neither one of you have phoned each other since I've been here."

Sara smiled ruefully at Shelly's correct observations. "You can be too smart for your own good you know that?" Sara finished off her pancakes and got up to clear her dishes, Shelly following right behind her.

"I know." Shelly smiled.

"Let's just say that it's been very difficult between us. We were fine and flirting when I first moved here, then about a year later he became cold and distant, then he was just professional and a bit standoffish and now he's back to almost flirting again. It's a little unbalancing you know?"

Shelly nodded. "How long have you been here for?"

"Almost six years." Sara answered. "I'm going to go take a shower and then you can go after."

"You trying to say I smell?" Shelly joked to the back of Sara's head as she walked away.

"No offence but … Hell Yes." She threw over her shoulder and the two laughed.

* * *

**5:30pm**

After they showered and had cleaned up the kitchen, they sat down to watch 'Bull Durham', the movie that they weren't able to finish that morning before they fell asleep.

They had settled into a comfortable aura, talking and laughing about the movie, as they sat on opposite ends of the couch, coffee and hot chocolate in hand. "I've always liked Kevin Costner." Sara whispered. "I think he was awesome in 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Bodyguard.'"

Shelly shrugged. "He's okay for an older guy."

Sara smiled and retorted, "Older guys must be my thing." which made them both laugh. When the manager caught the starting pitcher having sex in the locker room right before the game, Sara chanced a look over to Shelly and saw a deep crimson creeping over her face. Her wrinkled up nose and pinched lips made Sara have to try very hard to suppress her laugh.

They were interrupted, yet again, half way through the movie but this time it wasn't because of sleep but Sara's cell phone.

"Sidle."

"Hey Sara. How's your day going with 'Chicago'?"

"Not too bad. Just watchin' a movie. How 'bout you Greggo."

"I was doing well up until I got called in by Grissom." Greg sighed dramatically as he sat down in the break room of CSI Headquarters. "I guess people are finally seeing just how special and important I am around here."

Sara could hear the laugh in Greg's voice. "We all knew you were special Greg. It's written in your file under 'Medical Conditions'." They both laughed. "So why'd you call me? Are you that bored?"

"Actually," Greg opened up the case folder that was sitting in front of him on the table. "I was calling because we may have found the perp that attacked 'Chicago'."

Sara jumped up from her seat as she yelled, "No way!"

"Yes way!" Greg yelled back and then stuck his tongue out at Hodges who had scowled at his outburst. "We found his DNA at the crime scene…"

"What crime scene?" Sara interrupted.

"The crime scene that Grissom called me out to. This guy was caught raping a young girl in an alley just a couple blocks from where 'Chicago' was attacked. He matches the description she gave us of her attacker so I took the dudes DNA and it's being run right now to see if it matches 'Chicago's' case."

"That is awesome news!" She yelled back into the phone while thinking, _Why didn't Griss call me in if the cases looked familiar. I'm the primary, not Greg._ Then her conscience figuratively gave her a slap upside the head. _They might have just caught Shelly's rapist stupid. Don't be selfish._ _… Right!_ She turned to face Shelly with a mega-watt smile.

Shelly's expression was a mixture of expectant yet weary. "What?" She asked.

"They caught him Shells!" Sara stood in front of Shelly and pulled her up to give her a joyous hug, forgetting for the moment the phone in her hand. "They caught the bastard who raped you." Shelly's smile erupted on her face as she hugged Sara right back. That's when Sara finally heard Greg yelling to get her attention back to the phone.

"Yeah, sorry." She said to him, still hugging Shelly who was gratefully clinging to Sara's waist.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. I said he matches the description but the DNA isn't finished yet. Sophia wants 'Chicago' to come in and see a line up. You know, point him out and stuff." Greg finished uncomfortably.

Sara sighed, as did Greg. They both knew how difficult that could be for victims. "Thanks Greg. Tell Sophia I'll call her and let her know if we're coming in or not." They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Shelly had let go of Sara and had looked up when she sighed. "What's happening? You don't seem happy anymore. What's wrong?"

"Nothing Shells. Nothing. It's just … I was a little ahead of the evidence. They said that the guy they found matched the description of the guy who attacked you…"

"Raped me." Shelly interrupted without rancor. "Don't down play it. I wasn't just attacked, I was raped. I'm not a victim but a survivor so please don't make me feel like anything less."

Sara nodded her forgiveness and continued. "They still have to run the guy's DNA against the semen we found on you. If they get a match then it's open and shut but they would still like you to come in and identify the guy via line up."

"I'll do it." Shelly didn't hesitate.

"You sure?"

"Of course. I told you, survivor, not victim. I will not let this guy scare me into not identifying him. Besides, you'll be there with me right?" Shelly was strong until her last question when a hint of vulnerability was shown.

Sara smiled her reassurance. "Of course." And they grabbed their things and left for the lab.

* * *

**7:00pm**

Shelly and Greg shared shy smiles as she and Sara walked into the break room at CSI Headquarters. Sara went straight for the coffee when Greg nodded toward it, indicating his special blend was brewed. Shelly took the seat beside Greg and Sara sat across from him at the table.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Greg asked.

"Sophia said that she would page me when the line up was ready." Sara answered.

"Cool. So," Greg turned to his right and asked Shelly, "What are you guys planning on doing after the line up?"

Shelly entwined her fingers and placed both hands on the table as she shrugged. "Dunno." Greg placed his right arm around the back of Shelly's chair and leaned in to get a closer look at her hands.

"What is that?" He asked, pointing to her right hand, which she then quickly hid in her pants pocket.

"Nothing." Shelly answered a little too quickly.

"It's not nothing. It looked like a tattoo. What was it of?" He asked.

Shelly sighed hard and brought her right hand back up to the table. Between her thumb and index finger was a small tattoo of a gun with the letters 'GRs' inked underneath the barrel.

"That's … interesting." Greg hesitantly said. "Why do you have a gun tattooed on you?"

Sara, who instantly knew what that tattoo represented when Shelly first mentioned her involvement in gangs, went to change the subject but Shelly answered before she could say anything.

"I'm not proud of this one and if I had the money then I would get it removed… actually, no … I wouldn't; it keeps me in line." She looked up from her hand to Sara's understanding eyes and then to Greg's confused ones. Before she could change the topic of conversation, comprehension then surprise showed up in the surprisingly street-wise Greg's eyes. He nodded then changed the subject himself.

"So you mentioned that you're not proud of _that one_. Which one are you proud of?" He asked. "And will you show it to me?" He waggled his eyebrows in a comical manner, which made the girls laugh.

"It's not in an inappropriate place so I don't see why I couldn't show you." Shelly answered. She raised her left shirtsleeve up to her collarbone and placed her left elbow onto the table so they could get a better look. There on her left shoulder, close to her heart, was a beautiful blue and red butterfly with it's wings shaped as capital Bs. Inked around the edges of its right wing, in small letters was, 'All for you…' and around its left wing was, 'Or no one at all'. It was surrounded by grass and a small shining sun that made it look like it was in mid-flight.

Sara and Greg were both speechless from its beauty. Sara was the first to recover. "How could I have not seen this the past two days?" She asked. "It's beautiful."

"You probably didn't see it because I don't make a point of showing it off to people. If they see it or ask about it then I'll talk about it but if they don't then it's not that big of a deal." Shelly shrugged and went to cover it again but Greg's hand stopped her.

"Who is it for?" He asked as he dragged his eyes off it and up to Shelly's face. Apparently a woman with tattoos was something Greg found enticing.

She smiled brightly and answered with so much enthusiasm that it made Sara and Greg smile as well. "The wings stand for 'Baby B'." She said staring at Sara. She then turned her eyes to Greg, readying herself to tell him what Sara already knew, and yet, to Shelly's surprise, didn't judge her for. "I have a son named Brennan. He will be one in a couple weeks, March 3rd to be exact. I got this in honor of him for him saving my life."

"How does a one year … Oh." Greg started to understand. "He's the reason you left the gang that is inked on your hand." Shelly nodded and then tensed as Greg went to squeeze her shoulders with his arm that was still on the back of her chair. He saw her tense and immediately dropped his arm back to the chair. Shelly smiled her thanks and Greg smiled back his reassurance when he saw the embarrassment in her eyes.

Sara looked down to her hip when her pager started beeping. "The line up is ready for you Shells." She said as she looked back up to her. Shelly nodded, smiled her goodbye to Greg and headed for the door. "I'll meet you at the car." Shelly nodded again and left the room.

Sara turned to Greg who was watching Shelly walk down the hall. "Did you forget that she is only 18 Greg?"

"Hey, I'm just trying not to be rude by flirting back when she starts it." He smiled.

"That excuse only counts when she starts it Greggo." He blushed as she smiled knowingly. "Just be careful. With the shit she has been through, you could kill her if you hurt her. Not to mention I'll kill you if you do, so don't do anything stupid."

"Don't worry Sar. I saw how she tenses every time she even walks past a guy, which tells my, very smart," He smirked, smug, "investigative self that she has a thing against men since she doesn't do that around anyone else so I'll be careful. Now for the 'hurting her', don't get ahead of yourself and start planning my demise." He smiled. "I have absolutely no intention of hurting anyone, never mind the idea of hurting 'Chicago'. She's cool." He winked as Sara started to walk away with a small smile on her face.

* * *

**7:54pm**

Sara and Shelly met with Sophia inside the observation room. "Hello."

Shelly eyed Sophia with dislike. "Hi." She replied curtly.

Sara smiled her apology for Shelly, "Hey Sophia."

They were standing in a semi-circle with Shelly's back to the one-way window. "Okay," Sophia started her explanation. "When you say you're ready, you can turn around. Beyond that window are six men. We will call out a number and that man will step forward, then to his side, then face forward again before stepping back so the next number can be called. If you see the man who raped you then I want you to write the number down on this pad of paper." She handed Shelly the pad. "Any questions?"

Shelly shook her head.

"Okay, now, before we get started I want to make sure that you know that these men can't see you. You can see them but…"

"It's a one-way window, I get it." Shelly interrupted. She turned around and faced the window then nodded to the caller. Sara stepped up beside her, her presence giving the support Shelly needed.

The caller announced into the mic, "Number one, step forward." He did. "Now to your side." He shifted. "Now forward again."

Shelly shook her head and whispered to Sara, "His nose is too big and his eyes are too dark." Sara nodded to Shelly and then to the caller.

"Number one step back and number two, step forward. Now to your side. Now forward again."

Again, Shelly shook her head. "He's too tall and scrawny. If that was the guy, he wouldn't have lasted against me." She stated with conviction. Sara smiled at her strength and nodded to the caller.

"Step back. Number three, step forward." Shelly instantly grabbed hold of Sara's hand tightly. "Now to the side." She held a little tighter when she saw the three scratch marks on his face and Sara squeezed her hand in support. "Now forward again." Sara could feel Shelly's fight to control herself from lunging through the window to hurt the guy. Shelly ducked her head and took a couple of deep, long breaths.

When she composed herself enough, she reluctantly let go of Sara's hand and wrote a huge number three on the pad of paper, then handed it to Sophia. "But I still want the guy to call the next numbers." Sophia raised her eyebrow. "I want to see his reaction when he sees that he's been bypassed as the rapist." Sophia understood and nodded to the caller.

"Step back…" The expression was priceless. Number threes eyes widened with surprise and his jaw dropped open slightly as his feet froze to the floor. _Definitely an amateur_ Sara thought.

"If I didn't actually see him then that reaction alone would tell me he did it." Shelly said as number three finally composed himself and stood back as number four moved forward. When the caller was finished with all the numbers, a guard from inside the line up room pulled number three out in handcuffs. His expression again was priceless as he realized he was done for.

"Thank you for your co-operation Miss O'Brien." Sophia said politely.

Shelly nodded. "I wanted this guy gone so he couldn't do it to another girl again so it was my pleasure."

"Shelly O'Brien." Came a cocky voice from the doorway.

Shelly, Sara and Sophia all turned to see a tall, brown haired, brown-eyed man in a black suit leaning lazily against the doorframe. "Do I know you?"

"No. But I know all about you … Shim."

Shelly narrowed her eyes at the man's smug smile.

"You shouldn't be back here…" Sara started but was interrupted by the man.

"Actually, I can. Name's Detective Ryen Lanten. I help head-up a gang task force focusing on the Gun Runners." Shelly's jaw dropped in surprise then clenched shut with distaste. "I'm watching the Gun Runner's Las Vegas base and I need to talk…"

"I don't have a fuckin' clue what you're talking about. I'm outta here." Shelly tried pushing past Lanten but he stood in the doorway blocking her exit.

"Ignorance doesn't suit you, Shim. We have task forces following the bases in Las Vegas, Chicago, Seattle, Miami, and Los Angeles. And I heard from the boys in Chicago that you were coming to Las Vegas so I've been looking out for you."

Sara walked up to Shelly and placed her arm around her shoulders. "What do you want from her?"

Lanten smiled at Sara then at Shelly. "We found unknown DNA at two separate crime scenes in Chicago. We didn't have any evidence to hook it to you, Shim, except for the victim's connection to the Gun Runners, which only meant that it could have been any of them too. We ran the DNA through databases every month to see if we could finally match it to someone but we hadn't gotten a match for two years. That was until you got raped and they placed your DNA into the system." He finished with a confident smile at Sara who, in turn, scowled back.

Shelly drew apart from Sara immediately. "You did what?"

Sara hid her shock at Shelly's reaction and raised her hands in a defensive manner. "It's protocol. We needed to so that we could decipher between your blood or the assailants." She lowered her hands slowly and narrowed her eyes at Shelly. "What's the problem Shells? You told me that you've never killed anyone."

"I haven't. I could never take a life." She replied forcefully.

Lanten walked toward Shelly to handcuff her but Sara stepped forward and interrupted him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He replied as he pushed Shelly up against the wall and pulled out his cuffs. "I need to question our suspect."

"Hold up!" Shelly yelled. "I didn't kill anyone, damn it!"

"Okay, wait." Sophia finally stepped out from the corner. "You can use one of our interrogation rooms." She suggested. "There is no need for the handcuffs. She's not a flight risk considering she's surrounded by officers."

"And who are you?" Lanten asked.

"Detective Sophia Curtis, Las Vegas homicide. Now, instead of making anymore of a scene, how about we take this to one of our rooms." She offered. "You go ahead Detective and find a free room and when you find one, CSI Sidle and I will escort your suspect to it. We won't let her exit this room until you return."

Lanten hesitated but stepped out to find a free interrogation room.

Shelly sat down on the bench that was placed against the far wall and stared at Sophia with an unreadable expression. When Sara started to slowly walk towards her, she shook her head, making Sara stop a few feet away. "Thank you Miss Curtis." Shelly whispered before lowering her head into her hands.

"You're welcome. Now, I just saved you an arrest record, at least for the time being, so tell us the truth Shelly; were you involved with those murders?"

Shelly shook her head sadly, mumbling, "I didn't kill anyone. I was doing what I had to to survive. I didn't. I wouldn't kill anyone. I can't." She looked up slowly as Sara knelt in front of her, placing her hands on Shelly's knees, her slightly watered eyes matching Shelly's. "Please believe me." She pleaded to Sara in a broken voice.

Sara nodded and pulled her into a hug.

Sophia stood back and watched the embrace. _Sweet but… Sara is going to get hurt. She needs to back off the victims._

"Let's go Shelly." Lanten said from the door.

"Okay." Sara stood up with Shelly.

"You're not coming with us CSI Sidle."

"Yes, I am. I'm Shelly's advocate."

Sophia's jaw figuratively dropped. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Sara?" She asked.

Sara looked back at her and nodded as she walked out with Shelly in front of her being led by Det. Lanten.

* * *

_A/N: This chapter turned out to be a lot longer then I first expected so I have split it up. Already this chapter has hit the 5,000-word count so I'm going to post the rest of it in a part two. I hope you enjoy._

_Again, thank you for your reviews. They are great._

**PS** This is an edited version of the original chapter because it was brought to my attention that I had the wrong rape charges written. Thank you.


	6. Stories pt II

A/N: I know I'm getting a little off the plot of the story (finding Shelly's father) but I started this so I need to close this up. In the next chapter you'll see me back on topic.

A/N2: **Notice the rating change from _T_ to _M_**. This is very important because later on in this chapter there is some imagery of child abuse and sexual assault. It IS NOT in detail (I could never handle writing that shit in detail) but if any of you are like me and have an over-active imagination then just reading it would be hard. I had a lump in my throat just writing it so … you've been warned. P.S. Remember that Shelly's mother was a Catholic.

**Chapter 5 - Stories Pt II**

**8:50pm Saturday**

Shelly and Sara sat with their backs to the door; Detective Lanten and his higher authority, Special Agent Anjelle Dantero, a 5'7" Hispanic man with graying brown, shoulder length hair drawn back in a ponytail, sat across from them.

Detective Lanten pushed 'record' on the tape recorder sitting in the middle of the table and stated firmly, "You did it."

"I didn't do shit to anyone." Shelly vehemently replied, eyeing the men and then the recorder with disdain.

"Then how did your DNA get to two different murder scenes?" S.A. Dantero asked.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess it means that I was at both scenes but it doesn't say I did anything to anyone. I could have been there the day before the shootings."

"Shootings? We didn't tell you what happened to the victims."

Shelly dropped her chin to her chest, which made the detectives smile. "We're talking about a shooting and a stabbing, there Shim. What are you thinking about?" Lanten asked smugly.

Shelly sighed and looked at Sara pleadingly. Sara squeezed her hand in support as Shelly looked back to S.A. Dantero. "Look sir, I haven't been associated with the Gun Runners for a year and a half okay. What the fu-"

"Shelly," Sara interrupted. She looked to the men across from her. "What do you want from Shelly?"

"Well," Detective Lanten opened the case file in front of him. "We have more than enough evidence to charge you with two counts of murder-"

"Like hell you do!" Shelly yelled. Sara wrapped her arm around Shelly's shoulders to calm her.

"All you've told us about is the DNA which only puts her at the scenes. It does not put the murder weapon in her hand."

"You're right but guess what Shim. We do have enough to put doubt in your character and if we comb through anymore of the evidence, I'm sure we'll find a fingerprint or-"

"Wore gloves." The second after she said it, she slammed her head on the table. Sara gave her a perplexed and hurt look.

"You said to me you weren't involved shells. What the hell?"

"No," She mumbled sadly, her head still lying against the table. "I told you I didn't kill anyone and that's the truth."

"That's right," Smirked S.A. Dantero. "You didn't kill them but your known knowledge of what we would look for, the fact that there was practically no evidence left at a lot of difference scenes and the fact that your DNA was found at two of those scenes raises flags."

"So what, none of it means shit. Circumstantial." Shelly spat. "I haven't been a part of their association for over a year and a half." She jumped up and slammed her fist on the table. "I made damn sure not to keep any connections with any of them for this very fuckin' reason!"

"What about Sage?" Det. Lanten asked, unperturbed by her outburst.

"What about him?"

"You've kept in contact with him."

"He got out as well!" She yelled as Sara tried to grab her arm to pull her back but Shelly pulled her arm violently from Sara's grasp. "We got out together! Same with Cels, damn it!"

"We don't care about them Shim-"

"Stop fuckin' callin' me that!"

"Shelly!" Sara yelled. "Sit down!" After Shelly took a few deep breaths and sat down, Sara focused back on the men but still held Shelly's hand in silent support. "What is it you want from her?"

The men looked at each other; surprised that Shelly actually obliged Sara's demand. It was known that Shelly's Irish temper and stubbornness could get the best of her. S.A Dantero looked back at Sara. "We want information on the Gun Runners."

"What does she get?" Asked Sara who had seen enough deals go down that she knew how it worked.

"What? You want us to deal with a known gang member? Are you for real?" Asked Lanten.

"Yes, I'm for real. She hasn't been connected in anyway with the gang for a year and a half."

"She was in contact with Dustin 'Sage' Mahler."

"He and I got out at the same time damn it!" Sara squeezed her hand; Shelly understood and settled back down as much as she could, her free hand still fidgeted with the hem of her shirt underneath the table.

"As she told you, he got out as well. If he still had any connections with Gun Runners then it's unknown by Shelly. Now, as for the deal," Sara locked eyes with S.A. Dantero. "If she answers every one of your questions then I want you two to make sure her name and character do not get tarnished because of your investigation."

The detectives looked at each other flabbergasted. "What you're asking for, CSI Sidle, is for the federal government to alter evidence in a federal inves-"

"No, I'm not asking you to break your own laws. You keep all your evidence, DNA and all, but you make sure that it doesn't tarnish this young girl's character. Meaning, if she wants to get a job as a CSI in the future, after proper education, then I want it so. I don't want this to hinder that chance for her. She's changed."

"Look CSI Sidle, she is-"

"Was…"

"_Was_ a part of a gang…"

"Yeah, when she was a juvenile and before she changed her lifestyle for the better."

"But-"

"No." Sara raised her hand to stop the detective from saying anymore.

* * *

Sophia, who had been watching from the observation room, was awestruck by the efforts Sara was going to. This seemed like more then just an emotional connection to a victim, which Sara was very often known to do. This time, Sara was in too deep. Sophia was off to inform Grissom and try to get his help in dealing with Sara.

* * *

"Special Agent Dantero, Detective Lanten, I'm not asking for a lot. She gives you information and answers; you keep her name out of it so employers don't stop from hiring her. Keep the DNA and her name there; I'm not asking you to break the law and tamper with evidence. I'm asking you that anything she tells you now that might damn her character be received from anonymous."

After Det Lanten shut off the recorder and he and S.A. Dantero stepped out to think about the offer, Shelly turned to Sara with pleading eyes. "I can't give up names and shit. I don't agree with what they did and are still doing but I'm not a snitch. I gave my loyalties and I'm not going to turn on them; I can't."

"But Shells, don't think about the loyalties you 'pledged' to them; think about the pledge you made to Brennan." That got Shelly's attention. "If you want him back then you need money; for money, you need a job; for a job, you have to agree to this deal. If you don't and they charge you then you won't even have a chance to look for a job."

"I can't." Shelly whispered sullenly. Before Sara could reply, the two men re-entered the room.

"Deal, as long as there's full co-operation." S.A. Dantero said as they sat down. He looked from Sara, who nodded, to Shelly, "First question," he started as he pushed record again. "What was your DNA doing at two of our crime scenes?"

Shelly looked down at the recorder for a few seconds then up to Sara with defeat written in her features. She closed her eyes, sighed softly, took hold of Sara's hand again, and, with her eyes downcast to the table, said, "I was a cleaner."

"Care to elaborate?" Lanten asked.

"Not really." Shelly answered with a shrug.

Lanten glared at Sara. "How 'bout you tell your friend what full co-operation means."

When she felt Sara squeeze her hand tight, out of support or in frustration, she didn't know which, she sighed and continued softly. "I cleaned up their crime scenes. Everything that Miss Sidle does now, I used to do only it was to hide from people like Miss Sidle. I never wanted to."

"Well, if you never wanted to then why did you?"

"Are you really an investigator?" Shelly asked sarcastically. "Because if you are then either you're not paying attention enough or you really suck."

"Because…" Lanten prompted, ignoring her jab.

"Isn't it obvious. Why else do people get sucked into gangs? It's the promise of family, support, help, shelter. In order to have all that I had to do this."

"So give us more details about what you did for them."

"Okay then. I would go in after the murder or whatever and clean up. I would find the evidence and get rid of it; would bleach out the blood; and would get rid of the body's clothes. Not much more to detail then that."

"How many scenes did you tamper with?"

Shelly scowled at him. "I did about twenty-five spread out over four years. If I did that for them then I didn't have to sell their drugs. I didn't want to sell death to kids. Fuck no." She shook her head vehemently.

"Okay," Lanten pulled out a picture of a male Caucasian victim with a gunshot wound to his right temporal region. "Tell me about this guy."

"You will have to be more specific about him." She replied as she looked closely at the picture.

"His name was Mikeal Longe. Twenty-four years of age at the time of death. Cause of death seems quite obvious. We think he was there to buy a shipment of guns but possibly didn't have enough money. Date of death was September 17th, 2000."

"Ahhh, that was my second clean up. That guy was rank. I think his rigor was already set by the time they got me in there because he had his shit laid out for everyone to see. I made sure that there was someone else to pick up after the dude…"

* * *

**10:42pm**

After talking for forty minutes about Mr. Longe and getting the answers they needed to link someone to the killing, Special Agent Anjelle Dantero pulled out a picture of the second victim and tossed it forcefully at Shelly who paled at the site of the picture. His angry eyes never left hers as he reported to her the information.

"Date of death, July 23rd, 2004. Cause of death was exsanguination caused by fourteen stab wounds strategically placed for a slow bleed out. Very torturous and painful. No evidence found except your DNA and a very spotlessly clean Celtic Connection LC TM 2003 dagger, not even a spot under the handle. He has three young children and a very depressed widow. Wanna know his name Shelly?" Dantero growled.

Shelly shook her head; she already knew his name. She'd had it going over and over again in her head since she found out and she knew it would be there for the rest of her life.

"His name was Special Agent Justin Mirco. He was only twenty-seven. You helped a cop killer run free and right now I'm second-guessing this deal we made because I would love to put you away for this."

"I didn't know that at the time." She mumbled. Her eyes were starting to water.

"You didn't know that at the time of what? The time he was killed? The time you got there? The many times you could have walked into a police station and let them know that one of their men had been killed and you helped." Dantero's eyes had still not left Shelly's face even as she ducked her head to hide the fact she was wiping away her tears. "You don't get to cry Shelly. You don't even get to grieve."

Sara had been sitting there, shocked and hurt, since the mention that the victim was an Agent. She had been staring wide-eyed at Shelly, her hand loose in Shelly's tight grasp. _She helped a cop killer._ Kept repeating in her head. But when Dantero started to yell at an already shaken and dead looking Shelly, she refocused and tightened her hand on Shelly's. "Special Agent Dantero, I personally understand that losing a member of your team is very painful but you asked her a question now let her answer instead of yelling at her."

Everyone turned to Shelly.

* * *

Sophia couldn't track down Grissom at the moment, _probably at a scene_, so she tracked down the next best person to talk to Sara. Now she sat in Jim Brass' office asking him to talk to Sara since he seemed to be close to her as well. If Jim didn't help then the next option would be Nicky.

* * *

"Other than the … the fake name he g…" She took a deep breath and willed her voice to stop croaking through her tears. "I … I didn't know who the guy was. The on … only thing I did know was that … if I wanted to survive I had to clean up; … so I did. Until I saw that guy's badge under the … the couch cushions."

"Couch cushions? That's where we found your DNA."

"I figured. I … tried to clean it up but I kind of, you know, lost my head after I found that badge. I … I threw up." Sara placed her arm around Shelly's shaking shoulders as she wiped her own tears from her eyes. "I … that was the last one. I couldn't do it anymore."

"Well," Dantero and Lanten sat back and witnessed something no one else in their taskforce ever had the chance to witness. Shelly 'Shim' O'Brien was broken.

"I … I'm really sorry. If I knew the name of the guys that did this I would give them to you now but I … I don't have them."

Dantero's voice was much softer now, "Do you have anything you could give us?"

"I…" Shelly shook her head and kept her eyes downcast. Not five seconds later her head shot up and she trained her eyes on the wall above Dantero's left shoulder. "Shit!" She yelled. "Normally it was Mikey who called me up and said there was a scene for me. This time though, it was J-Q. He phoned me."

The detectives sat up straighter. "So you think J-Q did this?"

"I'm not sure but I know he had to have had something to do with it or else why would he phone? I know Mikey wouldn't make anyone else phone if he was there. He didn't trust many people."

"Anything else?" the two FBI agents were very intrigued now.

"Yeah. The only person I would ever see at a scene was the person who called me. This time though, I saw one of the cars pulling away with three guys in it. I think one of them was Andre but I'm not 100 percent sure on that. With J-Q being the one to phone me and with the others not gone yet, it tells me this wasn't planned. They probably went there for a shipment and then found out who he was when one of the guys went snooping."

"We didn't allow undercover agents to have anything within meeting grounds that would give away their operation."

"Just 'cause you make the rules, doesn't mean the others are going to play by them. They do what they want, when they want. Too many variables for you and your agents." Shelly shook her head sadly.

Special Agent Dantero pushed stop on the recorder and bore holes through Shelly with his eyes. "I don't like you kid, never will. But … I thank you for this information. I still wish I could put you away but I knew that wasn't going to help us. You know the risks you put yourself up for by talking and yet you still talked. Your courage in this amazes me, so … thank you." The detectives stood and picked up their case folders.

Shelly and Sara stood also and shook hands with the FBI agents.

"Wait." Shelly said when they were at the door. "I don't know much about this because I was never in talks with them in Seattle but I can tell you for sure that your boys up there won't find much on the Runners. I don't know how they do it but they ship most packages into Canada. Most going to Vancouver since it's close."

"Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of, no." Shelly shook her head.

"Thank you very much Shelly. We'll look into that right away." Dantero smiled before leaving.

As they walked out, Captain Jim Brass stepped in. He stood directly in front of Sara and told her to sit; she did so reluctantly.

"Who the hell are you?" Shelly asked before being pulled down by Sara into the chair next to her.

"Remember how I said don't make anymore scenes that could get me in trouble." Sara hissed. Shelly nodded and stayed quiet.

Brass looked mad, but then again, he always did. "Who is this?" He asked, nodding his head towards Shelly.

Sara answered, "This is Shelly O'Brien. Shelly, this is Homicide Captain Jim Brass."

Jim eyed the teen as she did the same to him. A few seconds later Jim broke the silence, "Sara, how many times has Grissom talked to you about getting too involved with victims?" He sat down in one of the chairs recently vacated by S.A. Dantero.

"It's none of your business Jim." She answered.

"But it is kid..."

"Excuse me sir," Shelly interrupted. "I don't know who you're talking about because I don't see any victims in here." Jim raised an eyebrow at her. "If you're talking about myself then you must be mistaken. I'm not a victim."

"Not what Sophia's reports say."

"Well, that… ugh … lady, doesn't know what she's talking about. I was a survivor of a rape attack in an alleyway but in no way am I a victim."

"Jim," Sara cut in. "I don't know what or even why Sophia went to you with this but it's not an issue. I'm not getting too close to a victim…"

"Just 'cause she says she's not…"

"She isn't Jim. She's a person who I am helping in my off duty. I have an investigation open in her name and am trying to solve it without too must hassle but with everything going on it's been a little difficult."

"What _is_ going on Sara?"

"Nothing sir." Shelly answered for her. "The 'Fibbies' were here to ask me questions about a subject in Chicago and Miss Sidle decided that it would be faster if she played my child advocate instead of having to wait for one from an agency. There is nothing else going on here." Jim's reply was cut off by Shelly's cell phone. Reading the display, she told Sara she would meet her outside, then turned to Jim. "Nice to meet you sir." Then she was gone.

"Sara, I'm only trying to look out for you. You've been doing so much better since the last time I sat down to talk to you."

"And I thank you for that Jim but it was as unnecessary then as it is now. Your caring and support during what I like to call my 'stupid stage' was important to me, much like it will always continue to be but I'm not having problems right now. That little girl is."

"She didn't sound or act like a little girl to me." He said shaking his head lightly.

"No, mentally she's not but in reality she truly is. She's only 18, Jim, with no one here for her. The system spat her out like they did m… like they didn't care," She corrected herself. "And I want to make sure that she has a promising future and the only way I can do that is to help her with the case we've started." She stood up and pulled him into her arms, embracing him with much force. "Thank you though." She whispered.

He embraced her back, just as forceful, successfully hiding his shock at the display of affection. "You're welcome kid. Anytime." Sara nodded then stepped away and out the door to find Shelly. "Glad we could have this talk." Brass mumbled lightly.

* * *

Shelly paced angrily in the parking lot out front of the police department while talking on the phone with a very anxious Debbie.

"Listen Debbie, he won't do anything to you during the day. He's not brave enough."

_"But Shelly, why is Rhory even sitting outside my fuckin' house. He shouldn't be anywhere near here, damn it!"_

"Settle down Deb or you're going to scare the kids. He's probably sitting out there waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and grab Brennan…"

"I won't let the prick anywhere near our baby boy."

"Good, good mentality Deb. Now, how long has he been sitting out there?"

_"Almost two days."_

"And you're only _now_ telling me this Debbie! What the hell were you doing between then and now… baking brownies?"

_"Shelly Gillian, don't you dare use that tone with me. I wasn't sure whether or not it was him considering I hadn't seen him in a while."_

"Sorry Debbie. Look, I'm damn sure he won't strike during the day so I'll set something up for you during the night okay?"

_"Like what?"_ Debbie asked hesitantly. _"Don't be getting yourself into trouble Shelly."_

"Protecting my family is worth any trouble I get into Debbie. I'm telling you now to not worry and settle down. You'll be seeing some familiar and friendly faces outside your window tonight and for every night until Rhory gives up."

_"Shelly…"_ Debbie warned half-heartedly.

"No, Deb. Sit back and don't worry." Shelly hung up and quickly dialed another number.

_"Sage-o at your service."_ His voice was comical.

"Hey Sage, I need a favor."

_"Shim! You ring me up after two whole months of nothing and right away expect me to do something for you?"_ He laughed. _"What do you want?"_ He asked through a smile.

"Are you and Alex busy tonight?"

_"Uhhh, I'm thinking we are now. What's up?"_

"I need you to watch over Debbie's house for the next few nights. It appears Rhory is staking out across the street so that he can take Brennan."

_"And you only want us there at night because you think he doesn't have the balls to do it during the day. Am I right?"_

"Wow, how much you know me." She played along in a whimsical, dreamy voice, piling on the Irish accent real thick.

Sage laughed. _"I don't think he will either. We'll be there every night for ya Shim. Every night for Brennan and Debbie too. Debbie's kids too."_

It was Shelly's turn to laugh. "Okay, Okay Sage. Thanks. Do it for all of us okay?"

_"Good day ma'am."_

Shelly hung up just as Sara was walking towards her. She saw the tired look on Shelly's face and decided to say nothing. She just ushered her towards the car and started driving home for some very deserved relaxation.

* * *

**1:14am Sunday**

They were just settling back into the sofa, getting ready to see if they could finally finish watching 'Bull Durham' when Sara's cell phone rang.

"You going to get that?" Shelly asked.

"Nope. It's my day off and I'm not on-call." Sara answered flippantly as she stretched and got ready to push play. She grumbled something unintelligent under her breath when her house phone began to ring.

Shelly laughed. "Guess it was important."

Sara growled at her playfully as she picked up the cordless phone. "Yeah."

_"Sara?"_

Sara nearly choked. "Uhhh, Griss, hey. What's up? You don't need me to come in to work do you?"

_"Umm, no, no I don't. I was actually phoning 'cause...uhhh"_ Grissom stumbled on his words. He planned out everything he wanted to say but hearing her voice made him a little fuzzy. _"I was just phoning to see how you were doing."_ Yep, that's what he wanted.

"Well, I'm doing fine. I was actually just planning on sitting down to watch a movie."

_"Oh, okay. Well…"_ Damn it. This should have been easier over the phone without looking at her. _"I was … yeah … just wanted to know if you're doing okay."_

"If this is about anything Sophia told you Grissom just ignore it. She doesn't know what she's talking about." Sara replied, using Shelly's words from earlier. "She's apparently been going around finding someone, anyone to help 'poor me and my issues with victims' but I'm fine Grissom, seriously."

_"Okay, if you say Sara. I believe you."_

"Thank you Grissom. Besides, Jim already talked to me. So … I'm going to go back to my movie now. Thanks for your concern though."

_"Okay then… Good night."_

"Night Grissom." Sara hung up and sat back down on the sofa with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Shelly noticed this and smirked back. They sat in silence as they watched the movie. When it finished they sat and ate pizza as they played card games. They then listened to music and watched one of Sara's movies until they were both tired and fell asleep.

* * *

**4:13pm Sunday**

Sara stepped out of the bathroom after her shower in her favorite purple towel with the golden gate bridge pictured in the middle wrapped tightly around her body. She was walking into her room that adjoined the bathroom when she heard a small noise from the living room. She popped her head around the doorframe and noticed Shelly in the middle of the sofa with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head buried between her knees.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Sara asked softly as she sat down next to her and wrapped her right arm around her shoulders.

Shelly dropped her legs and wrapped her arms around Sara's waist. "She … she was right there in front of me, telling me that it was my fault. I … didn't have a clue. It wasn't … not my fault damn it." Shelly pulled away abruptly and wiped angrily at the tears that escaped down her rosy cheeks but couldn't stop the sobs.

"Not your fault for what Shells?"

"That she died and I lived. It was … wasn't damn it." Shelly jumped up and started pacing. "She kept repeating in my dream that I should have done something. That if I hadn't hid but stood up for my family instead then she and Hails would still be alive. That Sye would have been alive too. I was only three when that happened. God! Make the fuckin' tears stop." She whispered hoarsely then dropped back onto the couch.

Sara wrapped her into a bear hug. "I read about it Shells. About your brother Sylis and sister Hailie-Bec. I found a couple of newspaper articles." Sara tried hard to fight back her own tears, staying calm for Shelly. "But I think it would be good for you to talk about what happened. I get the feeling you've never talk to anyone about it."

Shelly shook her head. "No, I haven't. I don't…" She sighed. "I was in the living room playing baseball on the Nintendo while Hailie-Bec was taking a nap in her room…"

* * *

Six-year-old Shelly was sitting cross-legged on the beaten up fabric being held up by four wooden pegs that just barely passed as a couch. She was playing as the Chicago Cubs on her Nintendo system and was winning against the New York Mets when she heard the front door slam close and her mother's latest fling singing horribly, "Bring on the shiz!"

Even at six, her instincts told her to stay the hell out of the way when this weasel came home. So, she started to head into her mother's room knowing that whenever he came home yelling out what he did, it was time for him and her mother to sit in the living with some smelly stuff and get really stupid and hungry.

Her mother came running out of her bedroom in a panic and nearly rammed Shelly into the hall wall. Shelly shrugged and headed for the kitchen at the end of the hall instead for some food but before she got there, she heard her mother crying in the living room, "But I don't have anymore for the week!" Then she heard a slap and a scream emanate throughout the house and knew it was time to hide.

She turned to her left, heading for her bedroom but stopped when she remembered Hailie-Bec was in there sleeping. _Mommy always yells when I wake her up. Where now?_ She started back for the kitchen and ducked quickly into a cupboard when she heard foot steps and then a slam and scream. She peaked out of the crack in the wood and held back her sobs but not her tears at what she saw.

Rebekah O'Brien slammed into the kitchen door head first after being pushed by her boyfriend, Kyson Kurner. "What the fuck do you mean we don't got none left, Wench? What did you do with it?"

Rebekah cried, "You sold it and smoked it Ky. We have none left!"

"Bullshit, Hag." He whipped a gun out from the back of his pants. "You're hiding it for yourself aren't you? Aren't you?" He yelled as he stepped closer and pinned her against the counter with the gun to her chest.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about, Baby. Please, listen to me. I didn't hide anything. You sold it, Babe. I swear." Rebekah pleaded.

"Oh shut up." Kyson backhanded her with the butt-end of his nine-millimeter. She fell to the floor clutching her face. From the angle she laid, she had a view of the cupboards and saw young Shelly duck back from the crack in the wood. Oh my god. She's going to see this. She's going to see me die.

"God help my children make it…"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I'm praying for my children." She answered and quickly went back to mumbling her prayer.

"You prayin' for your children instead of your own life? God, you're more pathetic then I thought." He paused and looked over to the cupboard where Shelly hid. He knew she was back there; he saw Rebekah's eyes widen when she looked over. "Now where is my shit Becka before I blow your brains in? And quit your goddamn prayin' freak. Do you really think God's goin' to help a drug usin' whore like you? I don't think so." He shook his head. "Now where is it?" He growled.

"I … I honestly don't know, Ky. Please believe me. Please." Rebekah sat up a little and leaned back on her elbows while Kyson made a show of thinking about her plea before raising his gun and shooting her once in the head and twice in the chest for good measure. He heard a gasp and a slam from inside the cupboard.

Shelly rubbed the spot on her head that she hit when she jumped at the sound of the gun. She couldn't even stop the sobs from forming now.

Kyson stormed over to the cupboard and yanked the door open. He grabbed Shelly by her upper arms and pulled her out then forcefully shoved her in front of her mother, then held Shelly's eyes open. "If you don't tell me where your mommy keeps her stuff, Shelly, this will be you."

"What about Hailie-B?" Shelly sobbed as she took in the sight of her mother's brain matter and blood on the floor and kitchen walls. She looked up and saw blood spatter on the counter and fridge from when Rebekah was backhanded. "You can't leave her here. She too young."

"Oh, don't you worry about your sis kid. She the last thing you need worry 'bout." He lowered his head so his mouth was right near her ear, his retched breath making Shelly more queasy then the blood. "Now, be a good lil' girl and tell Mr. Kyson where mommy's stuff is."

Shelly shook her head. "I… I dun know." Kyson sighed angrily, punched the back of her head, then dragged Shelly into her mother's room. He threw her on the bed and growled, "If you move one muscle, I'll kill you." Shelly nodded and watched as he left the room and headed into hers and her sister's room.

She heard the cries for help; she heard the screams of pain; she heard her sister's three-year-old voice echoing through her head, "It hurts." She heard the sobs and the kicking of feet against a hard mattress. She sat there listening to all of this, but the worst sound of it all, was when there was nothing; silence.

She heard the footsteps coming back for her and felt his presence before she even looked up and saw him standing in the doorway with his gun in one hand and the bloody knife in the other. He placed both on the bedside table and walked the rest of the way to the bed while unzipping his pants. He managed to lower them to his knees and pulled Shelly toward him. He forcefully pulled her pants off but before he could do anything further he heard sirens in the background and yanked his pants up. He went for the gun on the side table and pulled the trigger but nothing happened. He tried again to no avail. He threw it back on the table and grabbed the knife. He was about to stab Shelly when he heard the cars pull up in front of the house. He dropped the knife on the floor and booked it for the kitchen window, screaming over his shoulder, "You say anything I'm coming back for you Bitch!"

Shelly pull her pants back on and crawled her way up to the headboard. She sat there, hugging a pillow to herself and sobbed. It would be the last time she cried for a long time; she wasn't going to be weak.

* * *

Shelly was now lying on thesofa with her head in Sara's laps and Sara's arms tight around her. "I would never ever let any… anything like that happen to my son… never." Shelly shook her head and sat up slowly giving Sara a sheepish look. "I'm sorry." She smiled. "That was probably the best cry I've had since that night." She looked down at her hands.

Sara laughed lightly. "Why don't you go freshen up in the bathroom while I get dressed then I can make something for Dinner." Sara closed the door to her room but not before hearing Shelly mumble, "Technically it's breakfast."

* * *

_I hope no one was too offended by that. I tried my hardest to make sure that it wasn't in too much detail but still able to give people a good idea of the horror Shelly went through. This chapter was almost 6,000 words. That's my biggest chapter ever and I'm proud. Haha. Next chapter, Shelly asks questions and Sara is suspicious._


	7. Sharing Stories Suspicious Eyes

**A/N**: I apologize for the long wait. I've been in a writer's block mixed with a new six-week seminar I'm going to and it leaves little opportunity to write. I loved the gun line in the episode 'Daddy's Little Girl' so I very shamelessly used it in this chapter  

I will be getting back to finding Shelly's father in this chapter. But first, how about a little more childhood angst?

**Chapter 6 - Sharing Stories/Suspicious Eyes**

**5:15pm Sunday**

Sara walked out of her bedroom after getting dressed into her regular work clothes and planned on getting dinner ready for herself and Shelly but when she walked into the kitchen area, Shelly was already there. She was floating around the kitchen like she had lived there for years. _And amazingly it doesn't bother me as much as it normally would to have someone in my space._

She was going back and forth between whisking eggs at the counter and frying up egg soaked bread in the frying pan.

"Damn, it didn't take me that long to get dressed and you're already almost finished some great looking french toast." Sara looked on in awe.

Shelly shrugged. "It was what I did every morning while Rusty was lying on the couch knocked out from the booze. I got up and had to get something made for the other three kids and me. French toast was the only thing I really knew how to cook."

"Rusty?"

"She was my last foster guardian, Ms. Rusterin. God … was she ever a bitch. I was the one that took care of those kids." She shook her head sadly as she flipped the last toast on a plate. "The best one of them all was the worst off. Little Lukas was very new to the game and very scared when it came to people. I was the only person he ever trusted. When I was old enough, they sent me packing and I made damn sure that Lukas was switched to Debbie's house with Brennan. Lukas was only four when I met him and the last time I saw him before I came here he was a strong but shy seven year old."

"Crazy. I'm glad he's doing well." Sara said as they sat down to eat.

A few minutes later, Shelly broke the silence and asked shyly, "No judging, no regrets, right?"

"What? … Oh, the deal … Yeah." Sara answered hesitantly.

"That burn on your high inner thigh that I saw when we were sitting on the sofa earlier; it looks like a flower. Who did that to you?" She asked then took another bite.

Sara looked at her sharply, which only made her shrug. She sighed deeply and leaned back in her chair. "Why do you want to know?"

"Fair's fair. Deal's a deal."

They sat in silence for many minutes, Shelly eating and Sara thinking, _Fair's fair, Deal's a deal._ Shelly got up to put her plate in the dishwasher and was starting to think that Sara wasn't going to answer her to the point where, when Sara finally did speak, her voice made Shelly jump.

"I was always told that I was Daddy's little girl. I would follow him around, asking as many questions as I could about anything and everything. He would treat me like his little angel, just like a father is supposed to treat their daughter… sorry." She apologized when she noticed Shelly's eyes darken in anger. She continued when Shelly leaned against the counter and waved her hand indicating the apology wasn't necessary.

"No matter how bad the fighting or anything else was, I was always around my father. It's not that I didn't love my mother but I guess since my dad was the bigger of the two he seemed safer to hide behind. They would never involve me in their fights though, until this one time.

I could never remember, not even now, what my brother and mother were doing that night. All I know is that they were out of the house. I never thought about asking my brother and now it's too late 'cause I don't even know where he is, or if he's even still alive."

Sara stood on shaky legs and walked over to the sofa and curled into herself. Shelly cleaned up the kitchen and dinner plates, knowing that Sara needed a little time by herself to think about things. Ten minutes later, she finished with the last dish then grabbed a couple bottles of water from the fridge and placed them on the coffee table in front of the sofa. She sat down slowly beside Sara and gently wrapped her right arm around her shoulders.

Sara leaned into her. "My dad used to do things to me that I always thought were normal. I didn't like it at all but I figured that it was what every dad did to his kids. It started happening just after puberty you know? My dad found out that I hit that time, I was eleven, and he told me that it was now time for me to repay him for the shit that he had done for me as I grew up; now that I was becoming a women you know? God, that's frustrating. Talk about building a complex. 'Become a women, lay down and pay for life.' Whatever."

Sara shuttered. "This night was different though. He said it was time for him to mark me as his…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Twelve-year-old Sara Sidle was lying on her bed reading one of her favorite novels, Moby Dick, when she heard him coming up the stairs. She tried to understand why her father always hurt her whenever her mother left the house but she just couldn't. The only thing she really understood was that whenever her mother left and she heard her father pounding up the stairs, she was going to hurt.

This time was no different.

Micheal Davis Sidle swung the bedroom door open and smiled widely at his beautiful young daughter. "Already on the bed waiting for me huh?" He asked lightly.

"N… no actually. I was … I was reading my book. Can we read my book together Daddy?" She asked, trying to take his mind away from hurting her.

No such luck.

Micheal shook his head and grinned evilly. He stood beside her bed, towering over her. "Toss the book on the desk." He demanded. She threw it over and watched as it slid across the wood. She looked back up and Micheal smiled at the fear in his daughter's eyes. "This time is going to be fun."

"What … what do you mean Daddy?" Sara's voice, sounding more like a five-year-old then twelve, quivered.

"You're just too cute and precious you know that? Your cute little freckles, your bouncy brown hair, your very lovely lips. You're just too much. So, I'm going to make sure that anyone else who ever tries to take what's mine sees that he's mistaken." Sara looked on as her father pulled a lighter from his pocket. He then pulled out a small metal branding tool from behind his back. "This, my little flower, is what I will use to make you mine permanently."

"But Daddy, that looks hurtful."

"Only for a few second Baby. Nothing much." He held the flower shaped brander over the flame of the lighter for several minutes as young Sara tried to plead with her father.

"Please Daddy, don't do this. I'll do anything but I … I don't like fire. Please. No Daddy."

But he wasn't listening.

He easily pinned her scrawny arms above her head in his left hand. "If you move your hands from this spot it'll hurt even more." He growled. The one thing he hated most was when his stubborn headed daughter decided to fight back.

Sara nodded as tears began to stream down her face. She glanced down as he ripped her pants down her legs. She quickly closed her eyes as her father, the man who was supposed to protect her from this kind of stuff, slowly brought the burning brander down to her thigh. It touched, ever so lightly, against her thigh and she cried out in pain before Micheal covered her mouth with his hand. He pressed it harder against her and she managed to bite down on his hand and scream.

Downstairs, Laura Marie Sidle had just entered her house from the grocery store when she heard her daughter's scream. She dropped her bags and ran to the kitchen to grab the first weapon she saw.

Meanwhile, upstairs in young Sara's bedroom, Micheal removed the brander from his daughter's thigh and smiled proudly at the beautiful design. "Beautiful art for a beautiful creature my Flower." Sara recoiled at his now disturbing nickname for her. She looked on fretfully as the door swung open yet again.

Laura Sidle didn't know what came over her. All she did know was that when she opened that door and saw her husband standing over her little girl while her pants were down and she was crying, she saw red.

Without a second glance at her daughter, Laura raised the butcher's knife above her head and brought it back down into a very shocked Micheal, right below his left shoulder blade. He yelped in pain as Laura pulled the knife out and, as he turned around to face her, she brought the knife back down into him; This time into his right shoulder.

Sara scurried off the bed and jumped into her closet. There, she found a pair of pants and pulled them on then sat back and listened to her parents fighting in her bedroom. It's not like she hadn't seen the fighting and blood before.

Laura pulled the knife back out of his shoulder as Micheal dropped to his knees in pain. He clutched his shoulder in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. "Lau… Laura you crazy bi… bitch." He spat. "What the fuck do … do you think you're doing?"

"You have hurt this family for the last time Micheal! You can hurt me all you want, I can live with the pain. But I vowed that as soon as you touched one of my babies, you wouldn't be touching anything other then dirt through a wooden coffin!" She yelled.

Micheal laughed mercilessly which quickly became coughs and gurgles as blood pooled in his throat from his internal bleeding. "You can say or … do what you want Bitch." Micheal was gasping for breaths now. "I don't … give a shit." He laughed again and looked Laura in the eyes. "It wasn't the first time I had our daughter and she enjoyed it with me." He spat his blood on her shirt.

Laura looked on, shock and hurt running circles in her heart. _It wasn't the first time? What kind of mother am I if I couldn't even figure that out?_ _My baby was being hurt. Oh god._ Laura couldn't take anymore. With one deep breath she raised the knife in her right hand to the left side of her head and brought it back down at an angle so it sliced his throat.

When Sara heard no more noise out in her bedroom, she took the chance and stepped out of her small hiding spot. What she saw made her turn around back into the closet and throw up. It's not like she hadn't seen the fighting and blood before; only this time it was so much worse. Blood covered her bed, her bookcase, her dresser, and every wall of her formally yellow room. She looked up when she heard her mother's voice.

Laura was slouched against the door, her knees brought up against her chest, the knife sitting red and grotesque on the floor beside her. "I'm horrible. Not good as a mother, not as a wife. I killed him. He's gone now but he'll come back. They always do. Unfinished business and all that. Yeah, he'll be back to finish off what he started. He'll be back. He'll be back."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Apparently the neighbors heard the screaming and, not for the first time, phoned the cops on us. Only that time it was different."

Shelly sat holding Sara tightly around her shoulders as she shook with her story. She tried to lighten the mood. "Wow, look at us. We are definitely two of a kind eh?"

Sara laughed lightly before sniffling and sitting up. "Sorry about this. I've talked to only one other person about this before but never in detail. Grissom would've probably run away if I was to talk about the details." Sara shook her head and started towards the bathroom.

"No need to apologize, Sara. I don't mind listening." Sara nodded and closed the bathroom door to clean herself up.

When she came out she glanced at the clock on the wall. _7:02. Almost time to head in to work._ "Hey Shells," She noticed the young girl still sitting in the same spot on the sofa with a wide smile spread across her face. As she sat down beside her, she noticed why.

"Wanna see a picture of Brennan?" Shelly angled her cell phone so that Sara could see the display. There sat Brennan in his crib, his small right foot coming up into his mouth to be sucked on. His bright blue eyes shown up to Debbie's camera phone as she took the shot. He must have just woken up because his curly, light brown hair was standing up all over the place.

"Wow, isn't he a cutie." Sara cooed. "I thought you said earlier that he was blonde? And I know you don't have curly hair so I'm going to guess that his father does?"

"Wrong. I don't know where he gets his curls. His sperm donor has straight reddish blonde hair. And Brenn did have blonde hair but it has slowly darkened to a light chestnut colour."

Sara looked back at the picture of the smiling baby and furrowed her brows. The smile itself was familiar, along with the hair and eyes. She must have had a funny look on her face because when she looked up at Shelly she had an eyebrow raised in question. That too suddenly looking familiar and Sara couldn't pinpoint why.

"He looks kind of familiar." She said then looked at the picture again before standing up and going towards the kitchen to pack a meal for work. _It can't be._ Sara thought. _No way would it … no._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**9:35pm**

Sara entered CSI with a heavy head. She had been thinking none-stop about the picture of Brennan and the familiarities that she only seemed to notice after seeing that picture. Their eyes, hair color, Brennan's curls, Shelly's high cheekbones, and if she had the chance to look at that picture again, she could have sworn that Brennan's legs looked a little off. _But there's still no way. He would have known. He would have never ever treated anybody like that… but then again… No!_

She made her way quickly to the locker room and sat down on the bench, trying unsuccessfully to clear her head. She needed to switch gears to work.

She managed to make it to the break room but as soon as she sat down to wait for assignments, it all came rushing back. _How am I supposed to work with him if all I see is Shelly and, more so, that little boy? The hair, the eyes, the nose, the lips._ She smiled at that thought and how many times she had imagined Grissom's lips. _But never in this sense. They look so much alike but there is no way, absolutely no way Grissom would ever leave someone hanging or treat anyone the way that Shelly's mother said he did. No way._

Then she thought of all the times he had hurt her over the past few years._ But never has he even begun to treat me as bad as Shelly is saying he treated Rebekah._ She furrowed her brows in thought.

Also waiting for assignments were Catherine, Nick, Warrick, and Greg. They all sat around the table talking up a storm amongst each other while Sara sat more off into the corner.

"Sara?"

_But there is just no way. I mean they look like each other and …_

"Sara?"

_… act like each other but just no … then again Brennan's legs did look a little bowed, but he's not even one yet so it could be that…_

Nick got up and walked towards Sara.

_… he is still developing. But the curls? Shelly said that neither her mother nor Brenn's father nor anyone on his side of the family had curls so it has to be from Shelly's father's side._

Nick placed his hand on Sara's shoulder, which made her jump. "Sorry 'bout that but you seem to be in la-la land. Where did you go?"

Sara smiled up at him. "Nowhere important."

"Yeah right," Catherine piped in from the table. "What'd you do during your days off that has you so … preoccupied?" She raised her brows in question while smiling coyly.

Sara looked around at the three expectant and smiling faces of Catherine, Nick, and Warrick. She then caught a glimpse of Greg and he looked a little uncomfortable but smiled anyway.

She smiled to hide the anxiety and turmoil going through her head. "It was a very interesting time off."

"That's it? You're not going to tell us anything more?" Nick smiled.

"It was really nothing guys." Sara waved them off. That's when Grissom walked in and everything she had been thinking about before came rushing to the front of her mind again. _The curls, the eyes, he's pursing his lips like Shelly does when she's thinking._ She looked down at her hands. _Damn it. It just can't be him. It's too far-fetched. Way too far._

"Sara?"

She looked up into Grissom's eyes as he stood in front of her trying to get her attention. She looked around and noticed that the others had already left for their assignments. She smiled shyly. "Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

Grissom nodded. "It's alright." He walked over and poured some coffee into his travel-mug. "I was just saying that you're with me. We have a 419, gun shot victim. Brass is on the scene and says it looks pretty cut and dry but we'll be the judges of that." He turned back around and smiled gently at her. "Shall we go?" He motioned her towards the door.

Sara stood up and started walking out the room but stopped right before the door and turned around making Grissom almost run right into her. She looked up and into his eyes, trying to make sure that she didn't see any hint of lying. "Does the name Shelly mean anything to you?"

"Uhhh… no." Grissom answered. He looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Is it supposed to?"

_What a loaded question._ Sara shrugged, "No but… I don't know. I guess not." Then she turned and walked down the hall and out to the Denali.

Grissom stood there a second. _Is she drinking again?_ He thought then, shaking his head, he too continued to the Denali.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**2:24am Monday**

Sara returned back to the lab after, like Brass had said, a very cut and dry shooting. In the defense of his $200,000 car, the original victim, Mr. Jeffery Sminton, had shot the deceased. The deceased, 21-year-old Antony Michea had been trying to break-in and steal the car but when Mr. Sminton had interrupted, the deceased pulled out a knife and Mr. Sminton pulled out his registered handgun.

_"Who brings a gun to a knife fight?"_ Sara had asked.

_"The winner."_ Grissom had answered.

Sara smiled remembering the twinkle in Grissom's eye and the boyish smirk. _God, have I ever missed that the past four years._ She thought.

Rather then become glum about the past, Sara decided to think about the future. She headed to the DNA lab to do a little research. She printed off the DNA profile of Grissom. _I'll bring it home and compare it to Shelly's._ Though she doubted that Grissom could be the man that Shelly described, with the similarities in personalities and physical features, she just couldn't shake that feeling.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**7:14am**

"Okay, thanks for letting me know. And Deb, thank you very, very much for everything you're doing."

_"I do what I can for my family."_

"Thank you again. And say thank you to Sage and the boys for me."

_"Will do. Love ya kiddo."_

"Love ya too. Bye Debbie."

Sara walked into the apartment just in time to hear the tail end of the conversation on this side of the phone. "What's going on now? Is everything okay?" Shelly had told Sara earlier about Rhory hanging out by Debbie's house and about how Sage and a few other guys had volunteered to stand guard for her.

"Everything is fine. Debbie was just letting me know that, while Rhory was away for a few minutes, Sage and the boys managed to sneak Brennan over to a neighbor's house until Rhory gives up."

Sara nodded and went to place the file folder that held Grissom's profile into her dresser alongside Shelly's case folder. She would compare them later; for now she needed a break from thinking about it.

She walked back out into the living room. "So… do you want to tell me about Debbie?"

"Like what?" Shelly asked as she finished her first piece of toast and handed Sara the other one.

"I don't know. With everything that you were into back then, how did you meet a person that would go through all this? And didn't you say she started fostering just for Brennan? Why?"

Shelly blushed. "She did it as payback because I saved her son at school. He's 16 now but at the time he was 12." She took a deep breath. "Little Deryck was walking down the hall when this bulldozer looking ogre guy started fighting with J-Q who was in the Gun Runners. He was definitely one of the ones that you did _not_ mess with. I know personally." She said bitterly.

"He pick on you?" Sara asked compassionately.

"No. I picked on others with him." Shelly forged on through Sara's disapproving expression. "Anyway, so J-Q pulls fire and cocks it, ready to shoot. I wasn't even thinking about myself. As soon as I saw Little D step out of the class, unaware that he was walking into a shootout, I jumped and dumped, as we called it. Jumped to him, dumped him down. If I didn't then he would have been shot. Well," Shelly took another deep breath.

"When his mom heard what I did, she said that she would do anything and everything in her power to help me if I ever got into trouble. So, when I told her I was preggers, she rushed her ass out and got registered for foster care since she knew that a kid in the system can't take care of their own kid.

She demanded that B stay with her and that's where I was staying when I got the boot when I turned 18."

"Holy shit."

Shelly smiled at Sara's reaction.

"You lived one hell-of-a-life kid. Ever thought of writing it as a story?" Sara asked half-joking.

Shelly laughed lightly. "I'd like it to have a happy ending first."

That sentence brought Sara back to reality as she watched Shelly pull out her cell then start to bounce up and down on the couch after receiving a new picture of Brennan. She remembered the folders inside her dresser that held two DNA profiles that could change the lives of one of her friends as well as this fragile young girl that was sitting excitedly beside her looking at one of many pictures of her son. _Possibly Grissom's grandson_ She thought. Before she could think more about that she needed sleep for her emotionally and mentally taxed brain.

Saying goodnight to Shelly, who was taking the couch this morning, Sara walked into her room and quickly dove under the covers, vowing to not think about those damn profiles.

_FAT CHANCE!_ She scoffed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**11:25am**

She had been lying in bed for three hours trying her hardest to not think about the profiles inside her dresser.

It wasn't working.

She flipped on the bedside lamp and went to grab the folders. She brought them back to her bed and set up shop in the middle, with her pillows fluffed up behind her and her blankets used as a table.

She pulled out the profile that read Shelly Gillian O'Brien and placed it on the flattened blanket. Next, she pulled out the profile that read Gilbert Aaron Grissom and placed it beside Shelly's. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them.

"No." She whispered in disbelief. "No fu … No way." She sat in the middle of her queen sided bed, shaking her head and feeling very small. "There's no way Grissom is that man she described. He's nothing like that … no way … but this says… oh god." She groaned and placed her head in her hands. "How am I going to tell him this?"

That's when she heard the commotion going on in her living room.

"He did what? … How could he! … Where! … When!"

Sara raced into the room to the site of Shelly pacing feverously with her now closed cell phone in one hand and Sara's old backpack in the other. Shelly threw the bag onto the couch and started throwing food and bottled water into it. She then threw an extra pair of pants and shirt.

"What are you doing?" Sara practically yelled over Shelly's panicky babble.

When Shelly turned towards her, Sara was taken aback by her expression. After everything Shelly had told her, this was the first time she looked absolutely out of her mind. Tears streaked down her face and her eyes were wide with pain, shock, and fear.

"What's the matter Shelly?" She asked softly, walking to her to comfort her.

Shelly stepped back from Sara's comfort. "He's here." She stated angrily, walking now towards the door.

"Who's here? Where are you going Shells?"

"Rhory. Rhory is here for me. He got to Debbie and she's now in the hospital with a cracked skull and a broken arm. She told him that Brenn wasn't with her anymore. She told him that she shipped him to me because Rhory didn't know where I was; she thought we were going to be safe. He found a print out of the area that you live in because Debbie was going to try to come out here sometime and now he's here for me. He's here to get rid of me so that he can take Brenn." Shelly was talking so fast that Sara could barely understand her.

"Settle down Shells. Your father and I can help you. We have friends in the department. Captain Jim Brass can set up something to protect you."

Shelly shook her head and started back to the door again. She paused with her right hand on the handle. "What did you say?" She asked as she slowly turned back around.

"I said your father and I…"

"You know my father? Not just know who he is but you said that you _both_ have friends who could help. You _know_ him?" She yelled.

Sara nodded. "I compared your DNA to one of my co-workers who you reminded me so much of. His name is Gil Grissom."

"Your boss? The one you were telling me about? The one you like?" Shelly asked incredulously.

"Yes. He's the night shift supervisor and he can help you. He knows many people…"

"No … just no." Shelly shook her head. "I'm not going to be like 'Hey man, guess what, I'm your long lost daughter but I won't be here for long because some dude is trying to fuckin' kill me.' Yeah, I'm not going to put him through that. Not to mention how much danger I would be putting him in. No"

"So where are you going? At least let me help." Sara begged.

"No … I can't. I've already put you in enough danger just staying here. If he just finds out that I _stayed_ with you never mind the fact I _told_ you, he will kill you too. Thank you for everything Sara. I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful but I'm not letting you help me this time. I'm leaving."

Shelly slammed the door and took off.

Sara went straight to her cell.

"Sara, this better be good." He half-joked.

"Jim, I need a state-wide BOLO out on an eighteen year old girl." She asked of the homicide captain.

"What are you talking about Sara?" He asked as he sat up in his bed.

"I need a BOLO. She's been staying with me but just bailed out going east on Tucan Road after she got a call on her cell that someone was after her. Please Jim." She pleaded.

"Okay, details." He demanded, pulling out his pad of paper from his bedside table.

"Eighteen year old, caucasian female. Medium length brown hair, blue eyes, about 5'3", and speaks with a slight Irish accent. Last seen wearing a blue and black Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap, Chicago Cubs t-shirt, and black button-up pants. I lost sight of her after she turned left onto Tucan Road. She's a brilliant girl with a few problems, Jim. Please find her." She continued to beg.

"Okay, okay, settle. I'll help in anyway and as much as I can." Jim soothed.

"Do you know where Grissom is?"

"Gil? Last I heard he went home."

And then he heard the sound of the phone disconnecting.

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**A/N**: Thank you all very much for being patient with me. I know it's been over two weeks since I last updated. I hope you enjoyed getting back on topic this chapter. There will be much more drama up ahead as well as Grissom's reaction.

The rest of the chapters (excluding the epilogue(s) if I do any) have already been written down and I just need to transfer them on my computer then load them so they should be updated more often. I just need to make time to type it up.


	8. Shocking Truth

**Chapter 7 – Shocking Truth**

**3:00pm Monday**

Sara had been sitting in her car for the past hour. She had jumped in her car as soon as she hung up the phone with Jim and headed straight to Grissom's. She had sat outside his apartment for an hour trying to plan out how she would tell him but when she couldn't think of how, she went out for a walk around his block. An hour later she was sitting back in her car and now an hour after that she still sat behind the wheel, thinking.

She looked up at his door then, taking a deep breath, she stepped out of her car and headed slowly to his door. _I have to do this. Shelly is in too much shit. She's over her head and Griss has to know._ She started walking faster, thinking about how much danger Shelly really was in.

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**3:14pm**

He woke up with a start; the pounding, so he thought, coming from his head. When more pounding came not five seconds later, he realized it was coming from his front door.

"Grissom!" More pounding. "Grissom! Wake up!"

He stood up from his couch and turned off his TV, all while thinking, w_hy is someone banging on my door?_ He had barely turned the handle to the door when it came flying open with Sara Sidle rushing through. _What the…?_

"We need to talk." Sara demanded as she sat down on his couch.

"I gathered as much. What did I do or not do this time?" He tentatively asked while closing the door and walking toward the couch; feeling as antsy as he did, he didn't sit down.

When she looked up at him and saw the confusion and weariness mixed with concern stare back at her, she realized that she was acting like a maniac. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees and stared straight into his eyes. "I need to ask you a few questions."

"One who asks a question is a fool for a few minutes, one who doesn't is a fool for a lifetime." He quoted, but he suddenly felt uncomfortable again when he realized she could have waited for shift if it was a work related question, which meant one thing, it was personal.

"Griss," Sara grumbled, shaking her head. She placed her file folder on his coffee table as he sat slowly down beside her. "Does the name Shelly mean anything to you?"

"You already asked me that." He answered perplexed.

"You're right; you said no." She looked into his eyes to try and see his answer there. "But what about the name Rebekah?"

Grissom narrowed his eyes at her and replied slowly. "I've met a lot of people in my lifetime, Sara. Why are you asking me these questions?"

She lowered her eyes, determining she didn't really want to see his answer, even though she knew what it was going to be. "Rebekah Elizabeth O'Brien?" She asked softly.

Grissom jumped up from his seat on the couch and started pacing. He stopped abruptly and stared her down. "What are you talking about, Sara? I don't know anything about a Shelly but if you must know then yes, I know a Rebekah O'Brien but I have absolutely no desire to talk about that. It's history."

"Look Griss…"

"No Sara. I'd expect my private life to be asked about by Catherine but no you. What Becca did to me has nothing to do with you. It's over." He stated emphatically.

"No, it's not Grissom." Sara too shot up from the couch and stood directly in front of him. "There's been young girl that has been staying with me the past few days. I've been working a case off the record for her and you need to know this because it has everything to do with you."

"The rape victim; I heard about that. You really shouldn't…"

"No Grissom, look and listen." She picked up Shelly's DNA profile, handing it to him. "This is Shelly's profile. Take a look and memorize it." She stood back and watched his brows furrow in concentration. She then picked up his profile. "Now look at this one." She thrust the profile towards him but made sure to use her thumb to hide his name. "Play 'match the dots', Griss."

She stood and watched as his mind quickly connected the two profiles.

"They have eight common alleles." He stated wearily.

She nodded. "I didn't want to do this this way but my hand has been forced." She said sadly. "I printed this profile off at work. It's from the department database."

Grissom's wide, fearful eyes bore into Sara's.

"That's your profile Griss." She removed her hand from the paper.

He stood staring at the two profiles for a long, silent minute. _My profile? 8 common alleles? I have a daughter? Nobody … Rebekah never told… Oh god. _He swallowed hard and looked up to Sara. "Shelly … she's my… my daughter?"

Sara nodded, her eyes connecting with his for another silent minute.

Grissom closed his eyes and walked numbly to the couch and sat down slowly. _How? It ended badly but for her to keep this from me? My god, what is happening?_ He looked back up and connected with Sara's eyes. "That's why you were asking me about the names." His voice was barely above a whisper.

Sara nodded and swallowed hard, fighting her own emotions. "Her name is Shelly Gillian," Grissom's eyes narrowed at the sound of her middle name. "O'Brien. Rebekah mixed yours, Gil, and your mothers name, Jillian, for Shelly's middle name." Sara had to look away to keep her tears at bay. When she risked a glance at Grissom, who was still staring at her, and saw the tears pooling in his eyes she couldn't hold back any longer. As fast as her tears came, she was sitting beside him on the couch, grabbing his hand in support.

It was a few minutes later that Grissom realized and acknowledged her support with a tight squeeze of her hand. He never let go of her hand or her eyes.

"But Griss, there's more and for this you have to promise me that you will try to stay calm because I'm sure your pulse is already above ninety-five."

_More? How much can one man handle, damn it? _When he nodded slowly, his frightened eyes boring into hers, she swallowed the lump of emotions that were blocking her voice and forged on.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Shelly!"

Shelly turned around towards the voice calling her name.

"Deryck?" When he ran towards her and surrounded her in a bear hug, she wrapped her arms around him just as tight. "D? What the hell are you doing here?" She whispered, fighting with all her might against the lump in her throat that was threatening to strangle her.

The 16 year-old, 5'8", African American teen with dark brown cornrows and deep green eyes leaned back and stared into Shelly's eyes; his looking like they were about to tear as well. "When Rhory went after mama I knew fo' sure that he was comin' here. I made sure mama was otay wit the hospital an' Q.T. and B were otay wit Sage then hitched my ass out here to help you."

Shelly smiled and wiped the water from her eyes. "I appreciate that Lil' D but you shouldn't have come here." She narrowed her eyes. "He's here for me and you've just added an extra risk. Besides, Las Vegas is big, how did you find me?"

"I wrote down the area that mama highlighted on that paper before Rhory stole it then I started searching the different parks around this area. You always loved the parks. And, now that I've found you, I'm going to do everything in my power to help you."

"Thanks D but…"

"I'm here to help." He stated with conviction.

Fine, but I just want it on record that I don't think you should be here." He nodded and shrugged it off as she continued, "You could get killed and I really don't feel like becoming a keeper tonight." She managed with a small smile.

A 'Keeper' in the 'Gun Runners' was one who kept a corpses soul safe until the family or friends of the deceased was contacted. That person then had to deliver the deceased's soul to their family and then it was their obligation to keep that family safe.

"I'll try to make sure you don't." He smiled too.

They sat within the trees, talking, while the sun slowly hid behind the buildings surrounding them. After a few hours, Shelly finally looked at the clock on her cell. "It's already past nine and I'm getting pretty damn hungry. How 'bout you?" Deryck nodded and stood as Shelly began pulling food from her bag.

"I'm goin' ova to those bushes to take a leak." Shelly nodded and watched as, not even three steps later, she heard two shots ring out and witnessed Deryck drop like a ton of bricks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I can't sugar coat this Griss because Shelly is in a lot of trouble." When he nodded, his frightened eyes boring into hers, she continued,

"When Shelly was 16 she was raped by a man named Rhory." She looked deep into his eyes, which took on a very haunted and angry dark blue hue. "During which, her son was conceived." She paused again and gave him time to digest the bomb she just dropped into his lap. "Before she left my apartment earlier she received a phone call, from who I don't know, but this person told her that this Rhory guy got to the foster mother that was taking care of Brennan. Now he is here to get rid of Shelly so that, so he thinks, he can take Brennan without a fuss."

Grissom stared straight ahead at his wall, not focusing on anything but Sara's words. _Holy shit. I … Brennan? I have both a daughter and grandson? They're in trouble. My god, what has Rebekah done to us._ He shook his head angrily before turning sad eyes to Sara. "You're telling me that I not only have a daughter but a grandson as well and I they both may be killed before I even meet them?"

His voice was calm. _A little too calm_ She thought. _Holding this back is going to kill him… not as much as never meeting Shelly or Brennan… never meeting? He said… which means… Shelly's description was wrong. I knew it! Rebekah lied to her about her own father._

Sara looked into Grissom's eyes and she was taken aback at the sudden kaleidoscope of emotions she saw there, even more so at the fact that he wasn't hiding them from her. _Although it has to be hard to hide this much._

First there was confusion, then anger, then sadness; the last was of frightening realization and his eyes grew large. "Where is she now?" He yelled as he jumped off the couch and raced to put on his shoes.

"I'm not sure. Jim has put out a BOLO on her for me." Sara answered. Grissom started and then looked back at her as she answered her ringing cell phone.

"Sidle." She answered.

"_Sara, it's Jim. We haven't gotten any word on her yet. Have you been able to contact her?"_

"No, I… I haven't even thought to try." Sara raised her free hand and held her forehead. "How fuckin' stupid am I?" Grissom looked at her with that familiar raised brow.

"_Don't beat yourself up too much Sara. You're in a very emotional state right now and I'm sure you're just worried about the kid."_ Jim tried to sooth.

Sara sighed. "I'm sure you're right Jim but still, I should be able to pull it together to think of a simple thing like that."

_"Sure, but you're an emotional creature kid, don't beat yourself up. Now, I also phoned for another reason. I need to know if there is any way that she could have gotten a car from someone and driven out of Nevada?"_

Sara thought about it while Grissom finally gathered his senses and went to the kitchen to grab a couple bottles of water, as well as his migraine medication. He walked back and handed Sara one of the bottles. They were still standing in his hallway by the front door.

"Other then me, the only other people she knows in Las Vegas are Sophia and Greg, but that was just in passing and she hated Sophia so she definitely wouldn't go to her." _But then again she said helping her would put you in danger and if she didn't like Sophia then maybe she went to her not worrying about that._ She shook her head adamantly. _She is so not like that._

"From what I gathered, I'm pretty sure she would be excellent at hotwiring a car but I don't think she would do that. She didn't have any money on her, unless of course she still had the change on her from the money I gave her for dinner last night." Sara thought some more. "No, I'm sure I saw that money on the counter before I left."

"_Okay,"_ Jim interrupted, _"Is there anymore information that you can give me about this person that you said was after her?"_

"All I know about him is that he has straight, reddish blonde hair; he's about 5'6" and his first name is Rhory."

"_No car? License plate number?"_

"No. He must have flown down here because he was only just in Chicago. Check in with Chicago PD and see if they can give you any information. He attacked a women there and sent her to the hospital before coming here."

"_Will do Sar. Hang in there 'kay?"_

"I will, and Jim. If you have any information at all please… please let me know." Sara begged.

"Of course."

Sara hung up her phone and looked up to Grissom, who was still standing in front of her. When he saw the tears in her eyes, he rushed the three feet, closing the gap between them, then gathered her into his arms.

"He didn't have any news. He says to hang in there but I don't think I can Griss. I've bonded with her too much. I know that I should start taking your advice and stop it but I can't and now this is the most painful thing I've had to go through in a long, long time. She's like a little sister to me and I can't stop feeling so scared." She sobbed.

"It's going to be okay Sara." Grissom whispered into her hair. He was fighting his tears but he was slowly losing the battle. _That's my little girl out there, in danger, and I can't do anything about it. I don't even know what she looks like! God, this is so screwed up. I've never hated you more then this second Becca, never._ He thought as he looked up, willing his thoughts to reach Rebekah, wherever she was at that moment.

Grissom led Sara to the couch and sat her down gently. He placed their waters on his table and grabbed the remote. His silent tears had stopped and Sara's sobs were slowly dissipating as he sat down slowly next to her and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. "I guess we have to wait?" His voice wavered slightly as he turned on the TV.

Sara nodded and leaned into him, loving the feel of the support she always craved from him.

They sat watching anything but crime dramas, trying to keep their minds off what could be the outcome of their own life drama at the moment.

It wasn't until much later that night, just after 9:00, when Sara finally got the call she had been waiting for.

"Jim, do you know anything yet?" She asked as way of greeting.

_"A call just came in. An officer just spotted someone matching your girl's description. He's going to check it out then call back in."_

"Thank you Jim. Please call…"

_"As soon as I know … I know."_ Jim said lightly then shut his phone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"No!" Shelly rushed to his body and checked for a pulse. Finding none, she turned her head in the direction the shots were fired and saw Rhory Tulanni standing fifteen feet away, gun pointed towards Deryck's prone body but his eyes narrowed at Shelly. She lifted her left foot and positioned herself over Deryck's body. "Does it make you feel like a real man to shoot down a 16 year-old kid Rhory? Huh?" Shelly yelled.

"I'll do what I have to do to get my son. Where is he?"

"He's not here Rhor."

Rhory pointed the gun in the vicinity of Shelly's heart. "Debbie said he was here damnit! Where is my fuckin' son?"

"He's not in this park, I can tell you that much."

He cocked his gun as he saw an officer walk up behind Shelly. Shelly noticed his movement and turned back. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Are you Shelly O'Brien?"

"If you don't get the fuck out of here, you'll get hurt officer." Shelly spat.

Officer Rickter took in the scene in front of him for the first time. Shelly's body blocked the view of Deryck's body below her and with no lights surrounding the area, it was hard to see Rhory standing half behind a tree fifteen feet ahead of him. When he realized the situation, he quickly grabbed for his radio. "Charlie 4-9 requesting back-up at my loc…" Two shots stopped his request.

Shelly jumped toward him and felt for a pulse; finding one, she pulled Officer Rickter the rest of the way behind the large tree. She ripped open his shirt, ignoring Rhory's demands that she come out, and checked between Rickter's body and vest, elated that she felt no blood. The bullet didn't penetrate the vest.

"Give up Shelly. Come here and give me my son. If you play this right, I won't kill you and we could be a great family."

Shelly pulled out Rickter's firearm and fired a shot in Rhory's direction, effectively shutting him up for the time being.

Rickter, who was awoken by the gunshot, started to grumble in pain but Shelly quickly placed her hand over his mouth. She looked down and noticed that one of the shots must have got him in the leg. "Remove your shirt and I'll make a tourniquet." He grimaced as Shelly put pressure on the bullet wound and he removed his shirt. Placing part of the shirt under his leg, she looked up apologetically. "Bite your baton when it starts to hurt more." As soon as he bit down she pulled tight on the shirt, finishing her makeshift bandage.

She ducked behind the tree better when two more shots rang out from Rhory's direction. Shelly promptly fired three back, nicking the tree he hid behind with each shot.

Looking down at Officer Rickter she demanded, "Give me your extra magazine." When he shook his head she raised the gun to his forehead. "I don't care if it's against regulations; give me your extra mag." She hissed.

He nodded to his belt and Shelly reached down and grabbed his extra, tucking it into the drawstring of her pants.

"Shut your radio off." She whispered. At his questioning gaze she explained, "If dispatch can't get a hold of you then it's an automatic red flag." He nodded and, shifting painfully, he shut it off.

Feeling a shot skim her back, Shelly quickly stood and fired five rounds into the tree Rhory stood behind.

"Give it up Shell's you're going to die here for no reason!"

"Protecting my son from a sewer rat junkie is a good reason to me!" She yelled and then emptied the magazine into the tree.

Hearing the jammed clicks of an empty magazine, Rhory laughed, "You always were a hothead Shells! Now what are you goin' to do?" He asked, stepping out from behind his tree.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grissom looked to Sara with pleading eyes.

"An officer says he may have found her. He's checking it out."

They stood in awkward silence, both busy thinking about the many different outcomes that could come from this.

Sara finally found a way to break the silence. "Do you have a scanner?" She asked him.

He nodded and dug out his scanner from his computer desk. Placing it on his coffee table, he sat down on the couch. He looked up to Sara and held out his hand in silent invitation. She placed her hand in his and sat, both silently listening to the, at the moment, quiet scanner.

For five excruciating minutes they sat in relative silence, hands clasped tightly in support. When they heard the dispatchers voice loud and clear state, "Charlie 4-9 requests back-up at his location at Desert Life Park. That's a back-up request at Desert Life Park." They both jumped.

Grissom was the first to break. "That's right down the block from your apartment." He said shakily.

"Yeah, but it could be nothing." She replied, hoping she sounded more convincing then she felt.

Silence stretched for a few more minutes until the dispatcher grabbed their attention again with her frantic request. "All units report to Desert Life Park; that's _all_ units. Officer down. Charlie 4-9 not responding. All units, Desert Life Park."

They both jumped up and ran for the door, the scanner long forgotten.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly, as quietly as she could, refilled with the new magazine then reached around Officer Rickter's ankle his back up firearm. Giving Officer Rickter a wink, she yelled, "Fine Rhor," Then she tossed the back up firearm out from behind the tree. After hiding the nine-millimetre in the front of her pants, she walked out from behind the tree. "You've got me Rhor."

She started walking towards Rhory and he quickly pulled her in front of him as police sirens and lights rang out through the trees. Noticing a corner grocery store a few yards out and across the street, Rhory grabbed Shelly's hand and started pulling her in that direction. Seeing two cop cruisers pull into his way, he let out three shots to each cruiser then pulled himself and Shelly between the two cars and into the store.

Once inside, Rhory tossed Shelly down against a shelf and fired two shots into the air to get the attention of the already frightened people. The four costumers and two workers all screamed. Rhory smile slightly. "Everyone get your asses over near Shelly! Now!"

When Rhory took his eyes off everyone and looked back out to the police, Shelly pulled out her cell and dialled 911. When the operator picked up she whispered, "Patch me through to Captain Jim Brass."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N**: This chapter was shorter then the past few but I felt that was enough action for the time being. Smiles evilly _

_I hope to get the next chapter up within the next couple days. Thank you all for your continuing reviews. I very much appreciate it_.


	9. No Giving Up

**Chapter 8 – No Giving Up**

Grissom and Sara pulled up to the park just as Rhory started to drag Shelly towards the store. "Shelly!" Sara called out. "Shelly!" She tried again but didn't receive any acknowledgement.

Grissom dove across, mid-run, and covered Sara's body on the ground as six shots rang out. After a quick evaluation, noting neither one of them were injured, they stood back up and ran towards the store. They stood behind the police barrier formed by the cruisers and listened as two more shots then yelling erupted from within.

Grissom looked to his right as a hand slinked into his and squeezed tight. Noting that Sara was just as frightened, maybe even more then he was, he gave a tight squeeze in reply.

They both turned to their left as they heard other cruisers and an un-marked car pull up. Both went running towards the homicide captain, hands still holding strong, and started to ask what the plan was to get Shelly out alive but they were interrupted by Brass' cell ringing.

"Brass." He answered briskly.

_"Sir, I have a patch request coming in from a cell owned by a Debbie Darwin from Chicago."_

"Who the hell is Debbie Darwin?" He asked the dispatch operator; Sara however, was the one to answer.

"That has to be Shelly. Debbie bought her the phone. It must still be under Debbie's name."

Brass nodded. "Patch it through." He told the operator. The first thing he heard was a female voice, _"When I yell now, you all run."_

"Shelly?" When no answer came forth, they knew it was a one-way communication.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"When I yell now, you all run." Shelly whispered to the young captive beside her as she tucked the cell phone under the shelves behind them. "I want you to tell the others to run to the door when I yell now and don't look back." The scared thirteen year old nodded.

"Shut up bitch!" Rhory crossed the open entrance area to Shelly and backhanded her across the face. As much as she wanted to, she was not going to pull out the gun. _Not until the others are out safe. _She thought._ Don't want them caught in the crossfire. I trust my shot but not his._

Shelly went to stand up but met face-to-barrel with his nine-millimeter. "Get up Shells and it'll be your last move."

She set her jaw defiantly, "But without me you'll never find Brennan."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Don't push him Shelly. We only just found your father. You haven't met him yet Shells." Sara whispered, willing Shelly to hear her thoughts.

Brass took in the scene in front of him, not the store but his two friends. Sara's face was contorted in fear and concern and Grissom's mask was slipping away fast. _Sara, I expect but Gil, emotionally involved? Who the hell is this kid?_ He thought as the male voice quickly brought his attention back to the cell, which had been switched to speakerphone and placed on the hood of one of the cruisers.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Sit down and shut your mouth bitch." Rhory spat as he raised his gun and brought the handle's end down into her right temple.

Shelly shook the cobwebs from her head. _Mind over matter._ "Why don't you let these people go? They have nothing to do with this shit. It's just between you and me Rhor. You and me." She tried to negotiate.

"You're the one that's been hangin' with that cop bitch; has she not taught you nuttin? You should know that leverage in this situation is superb and with all you idiots I have plenty of it." He replied confidently.

"It's stupid Rhor. You've already killed Lil' D and Officer Rickter; just let these people go."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"He what?" Yelled Sara.

"Settle down. He didn't kill Officer Rickter. He was shot twice but his vest caught the chest shot and he's going to the hospital for his leg." Brass reported. "He's without gun, however, and is unconscious so I'm guessing Rhory has his firearm. We found his back-up and an empty magazine near him but not his extra mag."

"He killed D?" Sara asked breathlessly.

"There is a young African American male DB found near Officer Rickter. He's around age 16, maybe 17. Is that…"

"Oh Shit." Sara cut him off then breathed deep and exhaled saying, "Poor Shells." She shook her head sadly.

Brass and Grissom shared confused glances but refrained from asking when their attention was again pulled back to the phone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rhory shook his head ruefully. "I'm not letting them go Shells and if you don't sit back then I'm shootin' them one by one. Starting wit the youngest."

Shelly sat back down but had an ire of confidence around her. "If my math is correct, and I'm damn sure it is, and if your nine-mill is the same model as Officer Rickter then I'd say you only have two rounds left. There's seven of us here Rhor. What ya goin' do?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jim, Grissom, Sara, and the SWAT commander, who was now standing with them, all breathed in a collective sigh of relief that, if Shelly's math was correct, then they now knew that Rhory didn't have Rickter's firearm.

"Then who has it?" Brass asked.

Sara smiled. "I know." Grissom gave her a quizzical look, which she shrugged off as she leaned in to whisper for him only. "She has your intellect, stubbornness, and quick thinking Griss. I know she's in there fighting because she wants to meet you."

He tried to smile but his expression was pained.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Okay brainiac, tell me what the fuck I'm supposed to do."

"Where do you want me to start?" Shelly asked the vague question, hoping he would play along with her. She knew that if he just continued to talk then it would give SWAT enough time to set-up. "Do you want me to start at the very beginning?"

"Sure, you do that, it's not like I've got anything planned for the next little while. Let's hear it." Rhory leaned back against one of the checkout counters, his gun lowered but still held tightly in his right hand.

"Okay, let's start with what you shouldn't have done. You shouldn't have followed me and attacked me on my graduation day. You shouldn't have forced yourself on me on my graduation day. You … actually let's go back a bit more… to the very, very beginning." She looked into his deep brown eyes and spat, "You shouldn't have been born."

He just smirked, "If I was never born then you wouldn't have Brennan now would you, so don't tell me that you didn't want me to."

"No. Brennan was a gift from god, _not_ you. Even if you never did that shit to me, Brennan would still be here eventually and I would still love him the same and maybe he'd actually have a chance to have a father who he could respect and who could love him back."

"I do love my son. Don't you ever say otherwise." Rhory yelled.

Shelly smirked back, "You have a very funny way of showing it asshole."

Rhory quickly walked towards Shelly, who was sitting ramrod straight, confidence and anger fueling her words. He brought the gun up again to hit her across the face but she managed to kick his shin. He lost his balance for a few seconds but as Shelly went to stand and fight more, he managed to punch her right cheek, making her fall back against the shelf.

Rhory laughed. "Bitch." He spat. "You say one more thing I don't like and I'll start taking lives."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As SWAT surrounded the building quickly and quietly, Grissom, Sara, Brass, and SWAT commander Alexandre Brody stood around the hood of the cruiser, listening intently to the happenings going on in the building.

"What is that crazy girl thinking?" Brody asked. "She's egging on a man who is already on the edge."

"She's got a plan." Sara replied defiantly, her chin thrusting into the air to show her confidence.

Grissom, who was still holding Sara's hand in a vice-grip, looked at her then with a doubtful stare. "Are you sure Sara? It doesn't sound like it to me."

"Griss, trust me… trust _her_." Sara warned him with her eyes. "She's too much like you to not have a plan." She whispered to him. He nodded and listened as Brody commanded SWAT to hold back.

"We need to know where everyone is positioned." Brody announced. "Gerardeo," Brody called into his radio. "I need positions." He demanded.

"_Right away sir."_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Come on Rhor. Think about this okay?" Shelly took a breath to calm herself. "You have two rounds left and seven people sitting here. I know for sure that you are not getting out of here alive if you kill one more person. Just listen to me." She demanded with her hands up in innocence when she saw Rhory coming towards her again.

Rhory stopped four feet away and pointed the gun to her chest. "Don't piss me off anymore Shells."

"Fine," Shelly saw out of the corner of her eye that the thirteen-year-old beside her was fidgeting nervously so she reached over and grabbed hold of her hand; that move didn't go unnoticed by Rhory. "By now they probably have SWAT surrounding the building. They're probably being as quiet as possible so that they don't alert you but we both know you're not stupid. We both know that you know they're out there."

Rhory smiled which Shelly returned, knowing that boosting his ego was something that always made him feel better. When Rhory nodded, she continued.

"Now, what I'm trying to tell you is that if you let these hostages go, you'll have a better chance of getting out of here unscathed. They don't know that you know they are out there so by giving up the hostages, it looks to them like you're ready to comply to whatever they want, which makes you seem less like a nut job." Shelly backtracked when she noticed Rhory growl. "Look, I'm not saying you're a nut job but you have to think about what it looks like to them out there. You're holding seven people hostage in a grocery store, and they don't have a clue why."

"Get to the fuckin' point Shell."

"Okay, let the hostages go and pick up the phone when it rings. Make your negotiations and then we can be out of here." Shelly said with a calm she wasn't feeling.

Rhory thought for a second. "That sounds all good and everythin' but … how you know I won't be shot down?"

"Because if you take me out at the same time and use me as a shield then they can't shoot you. Remember, like you said, I've been hanging with that cop lady so it's not like she will let them shoot at you with me as a potential hit right?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"She's giving away our fucking position!" SWAT commander Brody yelled.

"No, she isn't." Sara replied just as loud. "Listen to her. She's not giving away your position but negotiating the release of six hostages who aren't even related to the situation."

Brody harrumphed.

"She let you know that Rhory only has two shots left and that he is not stable."

"But she's also saying that he should take her as a shield!"

"No, she's …" Sara swallowed the lump in her throat and squeezed Grissom's hand tight. "She's giving herself up for the sake of her son and the six hostages."

Grissom looked at her with pleading eyes; pleading that she wasn't telling the truth; pleading that Shelly wouldn't really give herself up before meeting him. He closed his eyes tight against the threat of tears when he saw Sara nod.

"I'm giving her five more minutes before my men try to make contact."

"That's all she needs." Sara replied confidently.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rhory leaned back against the checkout counter and thought about Shelly's plan.

"Look Rhory, this is between you and me, not this thirteen-year-old girl or this twenty-something year old guy beside her. Not even those two senior citizens sitting with their middle aged daughter against the front shelves."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"How does she know all that?" Brody asked.

"She doesn't." Grissom finally spoke up for the first time, masking, just barely, the emotion from his voice. "She's just hazarding guesses so that she can give us the information about the other people inside the building with her." That put a small smile on his face, for the first time understanding what it felt to be a proud father.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly looked back around, desperately searching for the sixth hostage that she knew was there when they first sat down. Rhory must have also noticed that one was missing because he turned around in time to see the thirty-something year old man running towards the back door. Rhory quickly aimed and shot him in the back of his head, making the man drop to his knees before his forehead slammed against the wall and he finally fell to his death face down on the floor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grissom pulled Sara forcefully into his chest when the shot resounded across the phone lines. He knew that if he didn't pull her into him then she would have raced into the building herself.

"Let me go, I have to…"

"You have to do nothing Sara." Grissom hissed. He leaned down next to her ear. "If I lose Shelly in this then I'm going to need you here with me. Please don't run in there. I won't be able to get through this if you run in there and he shoots you too."

Sara stopped struggling and stood staring gape-mouthed at Grissom. His eyes showed the truth of his words and she held him tight as they listen to Shelly yelling at Rhory through the phone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You're a fucking idiot Rhory!" Shelly blasted as the young girl beside her curled into her side and hid her face in the pit of Shelly's arm. "You just gave SWAT the fuckin' go sign. They're going to come in here and blast your ass now, you know that?"

"No they won't because I still have my gun and they won't risk it." He replied cockily.

"You are an idiot." Shelly mumbled and placed her arm protectively around the young girl before yelling again. "It's called bullet proof Kevlar Stupid! They come in here and you have one … _one_ shot left out of an automatic nine-mill handgun while they are blasting you away with AK's and high artillery."

"You were always such a drama queen Shelly-baby." Rhory said flippantly.

"Don't call me that," She hissed. "I'm the fuckin' drama queen? You're the one holding seven … no, count 'em _six_ people hostage all because I have the right to keep Brennan away from your skinny, no good, broke down sewer rat lookin' drugged up ass!"

Rhory brought the gun up and went to hit Shelly over the head again but the twenty-something year old guy sitting beside the thirteen year old jumped up and tried to tackle Rhory. Rhory was able to knock him over the head with the gun and when the man dropped to the floor, head first; he was knocked out on contact.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Alright!" Yelled Brody after hearing the latest scuffle over the phone. "That's enough." He grabbed his two-way radio. "Micheals, what's your position?"

_"Just outside the back door sir."_

"Good, stand ready. Gerardeo, what's your position?"

_"Main entrance. I see two young girls, one middle-aged woman, and two seniors. There's a man down at the back door and one down by the gunman."_

"Good. Keep your entrance team at the ready. Ronald is starting communications."

_"Yes sir."_

"Ronald, get on the phone and talk down this madman"

_"Yes sir."_

"Wait," Called Sara as she saw Brody leaving their huddle. "What are you going to do? You aren't going to put Shelly in harms way are you?"

"Ma'am, stay here. You're no part of this."

"Like hell I'm not! That's my friend in there!"

"Sara," Grissom soothed. "Calm down and let them do their jobs."

Sara pushed away from Grissom so that she could see his eyes. Forgetting that, thankfully, only Brass was standing within ear shot, Sara felt the roller coaster of emotions trapping her again as she blasted Grissom.

"That's your daughter in there and these guys are ready to put her in harms way and all you do is stand there telling me to calm down! What the fuck is your problem Griss!"

Sara struggled against him as he pulled her back to his chest, but eventually gave up when she felt his breath, warm and slick, by her ear and she could feel him shaking along with his words.

"I'm petrified Sara. I've never been more so in my life but I know that the only way she's going to get out of there alive is if we let SWAT do their jobs effectively without us in their way. So please, for Shelly's sake, as well as yours and mine, please calm down. Stay with me here please."

Sara nodded and felt warm tears not only cascading down her face but also being caught in her hair from Grissom.

Brass looked on and felt as if he was intruding.

_They obviously don't remember I'm here._

_Gil has a kid?_

_In all these years he's never mentioned one to me._

_Maybe he didn't know._

_But this is Gil._

_But then again, he is very private._

_Ah hell, I don't know._ Brass shook his head and brought his attention back to the cell phone all while having a new worry building inside of him for his long time buddy.

_I know what it's like to lose a kid, even if they are right there in front of you._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Shit." Shelly mumbled. "You're a fuckin' idiot." She repeated but this time focused to the knocked out man by her feet. As Rhory got the older man to drag the knocked out body down the aisle and out of the way, she tried to devise a plan in her head. She still had her left arm wrapped around the shoulders of the silently weeping teen beside her. With her eyes, she was able to communicate with the middle-aged women, who then told the elderly women beside her, to stay as calm as possible under their current circumstances.

The plan she had been thinking of was quickly thwarted when Rhory came back to stand in front of her. "I noticed how close you're gettin' wit your new pal here. I wonder if she is anything like you in the sack?"

"If she ever gives you permission to find out then I hope she bites you hard just like I did you perverted fucker." Shelly spat. "And I wouldn't be getting too comfortable and confident Rhor. It's only a matter of time before they come rushing in here to tackle and shoot your ass for this."

Rhory laughed and forcefully yanked the young girl out from under Shelly's arm. He pointed the gun at Shelly when she tried to jump up. "Uh uh uh Shells. You move and I'll shoot you."

When Shelly went to stand and tackle him, he re-worded his threat. "I'll shoot her." He knew that Shelly's conscience wouldn't let her move for the risk of an innocent person getting shot. He was proven correct when Shelly knelt back down; he didn't notice, or didn't care, that Shelly hadn't sat down but was squatting on her feet instead.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Gerardeo, what's happening now?"

_"The gunman has one of the young girls in his arms and is threatening the other one with the gun sir."_

"Ronald is having no luck. The gunman is not picking up the phone so I want you to be ready. If this Shelly girl is correct then the gunman has only one shot left so if he takes it I want you guys in there."

_"Yes sir."_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rhory licked the girl's neck. "What's your name precious?" He growled.

"Sa… Samantha." She managed through sobs.

Rhory smiled at Shelly. "She seems more nervous then you did the first time."

Shelly ground her teeth together. "That's probably because she's younger and because she doesn't know you. Not to mention the fact that I knew what was going to happen because I knew you were a perverted fucker before you barged into my house that night."

Rhory's smile grew bigger and he slid his free hand down the inner right thigh of Samantha. "You know Shells, if you would have just given up Brennan in the beginning, this wouldn't have had to happen. That officer wouldn't be dead, Deryck wouldn't be dead, Debbie wouldn't be brain-dead, that man by the door wouldn't be dead, and that other man wouldn't have forced me to knock him around. So, really, this is all your fault." He knew that even a lapse Catholic was quick to feel guilt and he loved every minute of Shelly's torture.

"No, you know what Rhory, that's not going to work. The only reason we are in this mess is because you couldn't keep your pecker to yourself."

Rhory laughed. "Then I guess it's my fault that this beautiful young girl in front of me is turning me on with her crying and fear." Rhory leaned down and whispered into Sam's ear. "You really are a sweet girl you know that? I'm going to have fun with you while your new buddy and those sick old farts over there watch." He then licked her ear lobe, which made her shutter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Entrance team! Be ready to make your move!"

_"10-4 sir."_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly looked over to the other three in the store and winked at them; they understood the cue immediately and got ready.

She then looked back at Rhory and Samantha. She had to think of something to do to get his attention for at least a few seconds, giving the rest of them a head start to get out of the line of fire. She watched Rhory's hand glide back up Sam's thigh and remembered the phone that she tucked under the shelf. She grabbed at it stealthily and held it behind her back.

Sam glanced at her with teary eyes and swallowed hard when she saw Shelly wink at her; she knew what was coming next and was silently stoking herself up for it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's been quiet too long. What's happening? What's going on? They're not talking, not moving." Grissom smoothed his right hand over Sara's back to try and stop her panicking.

"Remember, you're the one that told us to keep trust in Shelly to get out of this. You have to believe in that too okay?" He pulled Sara away from him and cupped her face with both hands. "Please have faith?"

Sara nodded, her hands coming up to hold onto Grissom's. "Okay." She whispered.

Sara jumped when she heard Shelly's voice yelling, _"Now!"_ over the phone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly grabbed tighter around the phone and after winking at Sam, she tossed the phone gently at Rhory to grab his attention and yelled, "Now!"

Samantha raced over to the other three hostages and the four of them ran to the front door as Rhory was just getting his bearings straight. He glanced to his right and noticed Shelly standing, getting ready to lunge at him but before she could, he aimed and fired.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"No!" Sara yelled as she heard the two gunshots. Grissom was having troubles holding her back so Brass jumped in the path between Sara and the store, blocking her way.

As Sara fought against Brass and Grissom, SWAT commander Brody was demanding his entrance team, "That was his last shot, get your asses in there!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly stood over Rhory's body. She managed to fire off one shot from the firearm she had hidden but not before Rhory shot her in the shoulder. Now she stood, holding her left shoulder with her right hand, hovering above Rhory's body as he writhed in pain.

"You bitch!" He yelled as he gripped his right leg tighter and hissed in pain.

"You should know not to mess with someone smarter then yourself Rhory." She said as she held the gun to his head level.

"You bitch. You're going to pay for this." He spat before gasping in pain when she kicked his leg.

"Las Vegas Police! Put your gun down!" SWAT leader Gerardeo yelled.

Shelly spun in the direction of the voice and raised the gun. "Stay the fuck out of here. I don't want any rescue personnel anywhere near him yet."

"Ma'am," Gerardeo started in a soothing tone, "Think of yourself here. You've been shot and need medical attention as well."

"No I don't. At least not as badly as Rhory does." She turned her attention back to Rhory and knelt down by him, just within his reach. "I got you Rhory. That shot you gave me was nothing more then a graze compared to what I got you. In a few minutes, you'll be out cold and if you don't get medical attention right after that, then you'll die of exsanguination. How does that suit you?" She snarled.

She jumped back when he went to grab at her and she laughed. She looked back at the SWAT members to make sure they weren't moving and when she was sure they were staying put for the time being she continued taunting Rhory.

"See, I clipped an artery in your hamstring which is making you bleed out faster. Soon, you'll be out of it." She smiled. "And I'm not too sure I'll let them in to help you in time."

"You bitch."

"We've already established that." She waved him off with her hand. "But what we haven't established yet is your time of death." She looked at her watch. "I'd say you have about … two minutes before you're out cold. Then possibly another five before you're gone for good."

"Fuck you."

"Oops, that's a minute and a half now."

"Fine… let me die here."

"Miss O'Brien, if you let him die here then you'll be charged with murder. Let us help him. He's already looking at the death penalty." Gerardeo said with little conviction.

"Hmmm … see you die on a slab with a needle in your arm, feeling barely any pain … _or _...watching you die here, in a pool of your own vile blood and in a lot of pain." She kicked at his leg again. "Big decision and I only have … forty seconds to make it."

"Shelly!"

Shelly turned her head toward the door and saw Sara standing behind a police cruiser crying. She looked back down at Rhory and saw him smiling lazily back up at her. "See Rhor, you were wrong all those years ago." She knelt down again and hissed at the sudden pain in her shoulder as the adrenaline of what was happening wore off slowly.

She looked deep into his eyes and finished her thought, "I will and have found people already who care about me. And guess what, unlike you, who will have people sitting there cheering, watching you with a needle in your arm, dieing, I will be living in a nice home with my son and friend." She hissed again as she stood up.

She handed over her firearm to Gerardeo, as the EMTs were finally aloud to assess Rhory and the unconscious man. Before leaving the building with the EMTs, Shelly turned and yelled to a half-conscious Rhory, "Word of advice," When she saw him stare at her through the bodies of the EMTs she smiled, "Your ass is pretty fresh so if I were you, I wouldn't drop the soap in the shower."

She was led out of the building, leaving behind a yelling Rhory, and sat down on the stretcher before it lifted her into the ambulance. Sara was by her side, with Grissom a few feet behind her, starring at his daughter for the first time. Without taking her eyes off Grissom, Shelly reassured Sara. "It's only a graze. I'll be out of the hospital in no time flat."

Sara nodded but it went unnoticed by Shelly as the ambulance doors closed. She sat there being fussed over by the EMT but was paying him no attention. She stared through the glass windows into the eyes of her father for the first time, neither blinking away until the ambulance turned a corner and they were out of sight from each other.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** _Thank you for your great reviews. I'm sorry I ended the last chapter in the middle of the action but I was writing it during my lunch break at my schooling area so I didn't have time to write more and I really, really wanted to get that up for everyone. I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I most definitely enjoyed writing it._

_**Chapter spoiler** … In the next chapter, Grissom and Shelly meet and you'll finally get to hear Grissom's side of the story._


	10. The Truth

A/N: _"Italics within quotations means that person is using sign language."_

**Chapter 9 – The Truth**

When Sara and Shelly arrived home from the hospital they both fell heavily onto the sofa as simultaneous sighs escaped their mouths, which made them laugh tiredly.

"It's the third time I've been shot but this one … this one was definitely the worse." Shelly mumbled.

"That graze on your shoulder with seven stitches is worse then being shot straight on to your shoulder?" Sara asked incredulously.

Shelly laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, it is. Before was just business, this one had emotion behind it." Sara nodded. "I'm going to go have a shower. I've got hospital all over me." Shelly stood up and headed to the bedroom for a change of clothes.

"Don't take too long. Your father should be here in about half-an-hour." Shelly snorted in slight disgust and continued on.

**20 Minutes Later**

For the first time since entering the apartment and sitting down on the sofa, Sara moved. She headed for the door just as the second knock rang through and opened it to reveal a weary looking Grissom.

He tried to smile but looked more like a grimace. "Hi."

Sara waved him in, closed the door, then followed him into the living room; she stayed standing, while he sat on the sofa. "How are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. I haven't felt this vulnerable since the last time I saw Shelly's mother."

Sara looked at him for a couple seconds. _If he's admitting something like that then he must be tired._ She thought. She was about to offer him coffee when Shelly walked out of the bedroom dressed in her black khakis and Cubs jersey. _Wow. Cut this tension with a knife._

Shelly sat down slowly on the chair across from the sofa, never taking her eyes off Grissom. He had his head down in a defeated posture and didn't notice Shelly as she sat down across from him. He did, however, feel her eyes boring into him so he looked up and right into those eyes, blazing blue.

They sat that way for several minutes before Sara finally had enough of their silence. "So," She started uncomfortably. "Griss … this is Shelly O'Brien. Shells … this is your father, Gil Grissom." _Like they need introductions,_ she thought with a role of her eyes. "I'm going to go into my room so you two can talk." She sat on her bed and left her door a-jar so that she could still hear them and be ready to protect Grissom incase Shelly went to cause bodily harm.

They both sat staring at each other, Shelly glaring and Grissom uncertain.

"What … how … why did …" Grissom shook his head to clear his foggy state. "Why did you come looking for me?" He asked perplexed, almost sounding accusatorily.

(Sara flinched.)

Shelly's eyes showed her hurt.

Grissom growled at himself before saying, "That's definitely not how I wanted that to come out." He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. He then placed his head in his hands before quickly dropping both between his legs, hiding. "I just … I'm not good with people."

"So you didn't want me to come looking for you because you're not good with people? What the fuck kind of nonsense is that?"

(Sara bit her lip to keep herself from chiding Grissom for being so socially inept, knowing that he didn't really mean to hurt Shelly with his words.)

"That's not it. I didn't ask that because I regret you looking for me. It's just that … I'm really not that good with people. I've been told so on many occasions by my friend, Catherine."

Shelly glared at him. "I'd say you're not good with people. And who the hell is Catherine? She the whore you slept with?" She asked hotly.

(Sara flinched again. This was definitely not going the way she hoped.)

"Excuse me?" Grissom sat shocked.

"Yeah, you know, the whore you cheated on my mother with. The one that took you away from us; took you away from me."

Grissom was frozen in his seat as he sat staring up at the now angrily pacing young teen that was supposed to be his daughter. "I didn't … what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how my mother walked in on you with some whore. She told me so herself. She said that she was going to your hotel room early, as a surprise for you. She said that you … you …" She turned around and wiped angrily at her glassy eyes, willing the tears not to fall.

(Sara wiped at her own silent tears.)

Grissom's first instinct was to get up and go over to Shelly. _But I'd bet a years pay that I'd quickly lose a limb for that._ So he stayed sitting, listening as Shelly's voice got louder; sounding more fierce yet very child-like and hurt at the same time.

Shelly turned back around quickly. "She said that she knocked on the door and some half dressed hutchie wench answered it instead of you. She was coming over early that day because she couldn't wait to tell you that she was pregnant with me you ass! And then you had to go and cheat on her. She said you even bragged to her about it by fucking kissing the whore in front of her. Right in front of her!"

"I would never do that!" Grissom yelled as he shot up to his feet and stood there angrily.

(It was Sara's turn to be frozen in her seat. It was the first time that she had ever heard Grissom raise his voice to that level.)

"Bullshit! Why would my mother lie to me about that? My mother was the one that stayed!"

"I never even knew about you!"

"Right. My mother told me she never got the chance to tell you because you practically pushed her out of the hotel that night. How could you? You're such an ass. How could you be such an ass?" Shelly ended on a whisper because her sobs had started to rack her body.

(Sara's heart tore to pieces as she forced herself to stay in her room. She was now pacing with caged agitated, ready to go out and wrap her arms around the broken girl in her living room much the same way she did the first night.)

Grissom slowly lowered himself back down to the couch with his head in his hands. "That's not how it happened." He argued gently, his voice already sounding beaten and hurt from the lies that Rebekah had told about him.

"Then how did it happen, Gil?" Shelly sat back down heavily in the chair, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, waiting for Grissom to explain his side of the story.

"I had already bought the ring." Grissom said on a sigh as he pulled a box from his pocket and passed it over to Shelly.

"What is this?" She asked before she opened it then gasped.

"It's the ring that I bought her. I wanted you to see it. That's why I went back to my place before coming to see you here."

Shelly looked up at him, her mouth hanging open in surprise. _Did he really love my mom? What in the hell happened?_

Grissom continued, "I went to see her in Chicago for Christmas, as planned. I stayed from the 22nd 'til the 27th. The next time I was supposed to see Rebekah wasn't until the middle of January because I told her that I was really busy." He took a deep, ragged breath then continued. "I made her think that I was busy because, in truth, I actually had five days booked off starting December 31st. I flew down there to surprise her. I wanted to propose to her before midnight that way we would uhhh …" He looked over to Shelly sheepishly as he finished, "that way we could be together from one year to the next; a symbol of what our life would be like."

Shelly cringed as the unwanted vision of her parents together in bed popped into her head. Shaking away the disturbing picture, she turned her inquisitive blue eyes back to Grissom. "So what happened?" She asked softly, her anger seeming to dissipate slightly at the pain in his voice.

Grissom sighed. "I went to her apartment…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A young and handsome 31-year-old Gil Grissom walked up to apartment number 366 and stood outside to steady his nerves. He stood outside the door holding a bottle of 'Pinot Noir' Champagne in his right hand and a half dozen long stemmed, white roses in his left.

After taking many deep breaths to calm himself, he moved the bottle to under his left arm so he could reach for his keys.

_Just breathe, Gil. It won't be very romantic if you pass out and the champagne spills everywhere._ Not for the first time that night, his smile was bright enough to light a room.

When he finally managed to get the door open, battling his shaking hand, he tossed his keys softly onto the hall table and pulled the bottle from under his arm. He took a step into the small hall that led from the door to the living room. To the left was the kitchen and to the right and up the hall some more was the only bedroom.

As he took another step, he noticed how quiet the apartment was. _Maybe she's sleeping?_ That's when he heard it, a moan coming from the bedroom. His first thought was that something bad was happening to Rebekah, but that was until he noticed a pair of man's jeans thrown across the top of the couch. That was when his investigative mind took control.

He took in the apartment. Along with the jeans over the couch, there was a bottle of Scotch, half-downed, with two small shooter glasses sitting on the living room table; a woman's shirt and bra lying on the floor near the bedroom door; a man's sweatshirt also lying on the floor but behind the couch, and noises, this time a man's grunt, coming from the bedroom.

That's when the investigative mind took backseat to the angry boyfriend. Gil dropped the roses to the floor and slowly opened the bedroom door. There he saw a man's sweaty back facing him and heard Rebekah's voice calling for more. Standing there, just inside the bedroom door, champagne bottle still in hand, Gil's eyes began to glaze over with unshed tears and his stomach began to rebuke the few peanuts he ate on the plane, as the woman who was supposed to be the love of his life was getting slammed into harder and harder by a different man, in the bed they shared.

He lost it; his rational side unable to cope with what was happening. He took two quick, angry steps to the side of the bed, unheard by the two occupants currently in it, and swung the champagne bottle so it hit the man's right temple, sending him sprawling to the floor with a thud.

"Joseph!" Rebekah yelled and went to help him up, thinking that because they were both a little tipsy, he had just fallen out of bed. (Her eyes were closed so it's not like she saw why he really fell.) She then took in the liquid and broken glass in her bed and turned her head towards Gil. Seeing him there and the fire in his eyes made her breath catch in her lungs. She was frozen to the bed, sitting half naked against the headboard.

"Having fun Bekka?" Gil growled as something within him snapped. "'Cause I'm going to be." He watched as tears fell from her eyes and sobs racked her body. He then turned his attention to the naked man that was stumbling towards the door, his hand covering the gash over his right eye. He walked towards him, outwardly looking as if it was a normal day and he was just walking down the street; the only thing giving away his anger were his eyes.

He grabbed the man by the neck and threw him against the wall. "Who the fuck are you?" He growled.

The man attempted to answer but Gil's hold around his throat was too tight so he eased up to let him speak. "Joe … name … is Joe."

"What the hell do you think you're doing here Joe?" Gil's low, calm voice was more threatening then if he had been yelling.

"She said … lonely. Wanted comp … company." He managed to choke out before Gil tightened his grip again.

He smiled, seeing the life draining from the other man's eyes. "Like this company, hey Babe?" Gil asked over his shoulder. "Would you still like him more then me if he were brain dead?" As Joe's eyes slowly began to close, Gil realized what he was doing and jumped back as if he had been burned.

_I'm becoming the bastards that I put away. What the hell is wrong with me?_ He berated himself. He looked down at the man who was fighting consciousness and fighting for air then looked over to Rebekah who was still sitting frozen on the bed. He slowly began to back out of the room as he continued to look back and forth between the two.

Just as he reached the front door, he turned to face it and pull it open but a hand grabbed his arm from behind trying to halt him. He turned and, without looking, threw a right hook that connected with whoever it was that was trying to stop him. He looked down, into the now red and instantly puffy eyes of Rebekah, and cringed. _I hit a woman,_ he thought, _How much worse of a man could I become?_

"You should put ice on that and get your boyfriend a glass of water." He said with a calm he didn't feel as he walked out of the apartment and walked out on the worst day of his life.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"She tried to contact me a few times after that but I couldn't give the effort to answer." His tears were silent as he looked into the wet eyes of his daughter. "She tried to phone me two months after that day but I didn't answer." The regret in his voice was loud and clear.

Sara walked back out of her room and sat on the opposite end of the couch from the other two; giving them her silent support but also the space they still needed.

Shelly nodded, putting the pieces together. "You think that she tried that time so that she could tell you she was pregnant?" At Grissom's nod, she sighed. "I would like to imagine how my life would be different if you had picked up that call but …" She paused, looking deep into her father's glassy blue eyes. "I'm glad you didn't."

Both Sara and Grissom looked at her like she had grown an extra head. Grissom's gaze however, also had a mix of hurt.

Shelly shook her head and tried to explain the best she could. "I'm glad you didn't pick up because look at all the shit you would have had to deal with. Sitting here and listening to you now, I know that you would have done anything, even move to Chicago, to help my mother with me. But look at the shit you would have missed out on if you had done that. The promotion to shift supervisor; your friends and co-workers, and don't forget your reputation because if you had to move to help us out then you wouldn't of been able to do seminars which means your name isn't put out there." After a quick breath she continued.

"Now let's look at the shit you would have been faced with. The hurt of having to see the woman who cheated on you almost every day; the hurt of knowing that your child grew up with this woman instead of you because god knows my mother would not have let you take me from her; and seeing this smart, and supposedly wonderful woman fall into drugs, alcohol, and bed with stupid men who hurt her. Sure you would have been there to stop her but would she have listened? No, my mom was stubborn, she wouldn't have.

So for me to know that you missed out on all those stupid things and you were able to live the better life that you did, it makes me glad that you didn't forgive her. Shit man, I don't forgive her."

Silence engulfed the apartment as all three of them sat with their heads down, no one knowing what to say. Finally, Shelly sighed.

"But I do forgive you." Shelly whispered. "I don't know why … I guess it's … I forgive you because you're my father and you're the one that didn't lie to me … and because I love you un-conditionally." Shelly got up from her seat and surprised Grissom by wrapping her arms tight around him.

Grissom buried his face into Shelly's neck, her hair catching his silent tears, as he too wrapped his arms tightly around her. After a few minutes, Grissom lifted his head from her neck and pulled her away from his body so he could see her eyes. He held her face in his hands and spoke softly,

"I thank you for forgiving me for my past mistakes and I'm telling you right now Shelly … you were never one of those. However, the actions between your mother and I after your conception were." He paused to take a cleansing breath.

"But if I had known then that your mother was pregnant with you then I would have jumped for joy and been with you every minute of every day; no matter what the history between me and your mother was like, I would have been there. I would have heard your first word; seen you take your first step; helped you potty train…" That made a laugh bubble up from everyone before Grissom continued.

"I would have dropped you off your first day of kindergarten; I would have helped you with your homework; I would have scared away your first boyfriend; I would have been there when you graduated; and most importantly, I would have been there to keep you safe. I would have made sure that Rhory didn't know your name never mind touched you in anyway."

"But there is another thing that I'm glad for and you should be too." Shelly interrupted. "He gave me Brennan. True, it was a very sick way for it to happen, and it should never happen that way for anyone, but Brennan saved me. You have the chance to do all those things you mentioned with Brennan now. He's your second chance."

"God, but I wish I had those chances with you kid." With that said, Grissom wrapped his arms around his little girl again and they sat that way silently holding each other for many silent minutes.

While they had comforted each other, Sara had snuck off into the kitchen and was making coffee for Grissom and herself and hot chocolate for Shelly.

While Grissom and Shelly were sitting, talking on the sofa, Sara went to her computer with her coffee mug and began her research.

"Could you uhhh… could you tell me about my mom?" Shelly asked timidly, not wanting to bring up the hurt but wanting to know more.

"She … you don't remember her much?" Grissom asked, a little surprised since she seemed to have a great mind and memory.

Shelly shook her head lightly. "I remember what she looked like on drugs and I remember some of the shit she told me about certain things but I have a feeling that all of it was just that … shit." She took a deep breath. "You knew her before she went to hell. You know that good things about her. I want to know the good things; what you first saw."

Grissom looked down quickly. "Before that night, I didn't think I met anyone nicer then your mother." He sighed and when Shelly gripped his hand, he smiled up at her and continued. "She was brilliant. I.Q. had to be up around 150-something. She always kept me on my toes with her questions and the topics she could talk about from criminology to the arts." His smile deepened. "She taught me a lot about how to interact with people. Growing up in a deaf household, it was hard for me to learn…"

Sara looked over at him. _I knew he was losing his hearing and that he obviously did something to fix it but … he grew up that way? That definitely explains a lot._ She had a small, sympathetic smile on her lips as she turned back to the travel website.

"Oh crap." Grissom said as he lowered his head.

"What is it?" Shelly squeezed his fingers.

"Mom's going to be pissed."

Sara almost laughed at the obscurity of that statement coming from Grissom.

"What?" Shelly's eyebrows rose in the familiar Grissom way.

"My mother, your grandmother … oh that's sounds weird." This time Sara did laughed at the scrunched up look on Grissom's face but she quickly covered it with a cough.

"Why?" Shelly asked innocently. _You'd think she'd be happy,_ she thought.

"Because …" Grissom looked at her impishly. "She didn't exactly … she wasn't really a fan of your mother after what she did." He rambled.

Shelly nodded her understanding.

"I guess I have to teach you to sign for when you-"

"_Don't Bother."_ Shelly signed.

Grissom sat shocked for what felt like the hundredth time in the last twenty-four hours. _"You know sign?"_ He asked incredulously.

Sara looked over when things went quiet and she was shocked to see the silent conversation happening. She was happy that she learned to sign back when she figured out Grissom was losing his hearing and she thought she would need it to communicate with him.

"_Yes. When I twelve years old, my hearing go in, out when I sick. Care not take me to hospital … not important."_ Shelly rolled her eyes. _"Instead buy me sign books. I not good, I try."_

Grissom looked very concerned, which started to scare Shelly.

"_Your hearing was going in and out?"_

"_Yes. Part of sick."_

Grissom shook his head sadly and looked down. Shelly tapped his shoulder. "Dad?"

His head jumped up with an added smile at the use of 'Dad' but the smile quickly disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

"Dad? What's wrong? My hearing problems were just part of the sickness … right?"

He shook his head again, and sadly informed her, "The sickness probably heightened it but it's not from that." He sighed and mumbled, "And people ask why I don't want children."

Shelly looked hurt and floored from his comment. When he saw this, he slapped his forehead forcefully and said, "That didn't come out right."

"No fuckin' shit Sherlock." Shelly spat sarcastically. Sara looked up at the harsh words and watched as Grissom tried to pull himself together.

He rolled his eyes while wondering how it went from heaven to downward spiral so quickly. _Me, that's how._ "I love the fact you're here Shelly. I will try my hardest to never hurt you again, ever. I've known you only a couple hours and I already want you to stay and never, ever leave my side; understand?" At Shelly's weak nod, he continued. "The only … _only_ reason I never wanted kids is my hearing disorder."

"You hear fine to me." Shelly remarked perplexed.

Grissom half-smiled. "That's 'cause you're on the outside. It's a hereditary disease called Otosclerosis. My mother passed it down to me and apparently I have passed it on to you."

"A hearing disease? But it was just the cold. I was sick." She panicked slightly.

"And the stress from being sick made it prominent. Have you had anymore problems with it?"

Shelly shook her head slowly, trying to come to grips with this. "Not really. I only learned sign language more after the sickness because I thought it intriguing. I didn't have anyone to practice with until Deb volunteered to learn it with me. We've been teaching Brenn but we're both still learning," she smiled,"as you could tell."

They smiled and that's when Sara broke in. "On that note, Griss, when can you get a week off from work?" He looked at her as if a lamp had spoken the question. She sighed, "Okay then. I have two tickets here to Chicago leaving in three days, February 28th. From there, I'm going to save two more tickets to go wherever it is your mother is living. Those will be set to leave on the 4th of March, late night. You'll both be in Chicago on the third of March for Brennan's first birthday, right Shells?"

Shelly nodded numbly; in total shock that someone would actually be helping her this much, on top of the dangers of last night.

Grissom just smiled at Sara, which she quickly reciprocated. "LA, landing at the closest port to Santa Monica." Sara nodded and went back to the computer.

Shelly, finally getting her bearings back, stated, "Only two?"

Sara looked over at her then to Grissom, who was digging into his pockets, seemingly oblivious to Shelly's comment.

"Yeah, I thought it only fair that your father … that he goes with you." She paused mid-sentence; she was still having troubles feeling out the words father, dad, daddy, grandfather, or granddad when talking about Grissom.

"But … you're not coming?" Shelly asked innocently.

Sara looked over to Grissom who had just worked his credit card out of his wallet.

Shelly looked over to her father and demanded, _"Make her come with!"_

He just smiled, stood up, handed a very stunned Sara his credit card and told her gently yet firmly, "Three tickets to Chicago, then LA, then back home to Vegas." He then turned and took his seat again beside Shelly, whose smile was lighting up the room.

Not knowing how or what to respond, Sara nodded zombie like and finished on the computer as Grissom and Shelly sat on the sofa; Grissom helping her with her signing.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly stayed at Sara's apartment again, familiar territory and Grissom's guest room being a 'Roach Motel' being the reasons for their arrangement. She and Sara had both taken Sara's bed, both thinking that Grissom would take the sofa. But instead, Grissom had taken the time to go home and think.

_If I move the bugs into the attic and just make sure the temperature was correct then Shelly can stay in the guest room. But what about Brennan? God, Brennan and those pictures … he looks so much like I did at his age; Chunky cheeks, little roles, big blue eyes, brown curls, happy boy. Mother always said I was a happy baby. Holy shit._

He looked around his townhouse and stared into his reflection in the back window. _You're a father. I'm a grandfather._ He plopped down onto his hard couch and placed his hands over his face. "Oh god." He groaned. "Mother is going to kill me."

He got up and walked towards the kitchen, mumbling in his best 'old grandmother' voice. "How could you be so irresponsible? You're a smart boy Gilbert, what the hell is your problem." Then he faked a slap upside the head as a demonstration of what he was expecting. He smiled though, as he pulled out a water bottle. "At least I won't have to _hear_ the lecture." He laughed as he walked into his bathroom for a relaxing shower before bed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N:** I apologize for the wait but life is kind of rough at the moment. Between being sick, my seminar program, getting sicker and then having my computer totally piss me off 'cause it doesn't seem to want to upload my story ... I have to do it at the program I'm at on the weekdays only, soit's been hard. I swear my life is one big conspiracy … oh well._

_**Next chapter**, which will most likely be the second last if not the last, will hold Shelly's obligations of being Deryck's 'Keeper' and we'll see Griss meet the boy who looks so much like him._


	11. How We're Changing

_**A/N:** Holy man, this chapter is long… My promise to have Grissom meet Brennan in this chapter was broken, sorry, because I forgot that I needed to wrap things up in Vegas first. I hope I made up for the wait by giving a long chapter that's worth it._

_**PS:** Warning … this chapter is apparently under the category 'Mary-sue'; just some fluffy stuff with a little angst._

**Chapter 10 – How We're Changing**

**5:12pm Wednesday**

"Please?"

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"If you don't do it then I'll have to break in and get it myself."

"Shelly." Grissom warned.

"Dad." She was standing her ground.

"Shelly."

"Gil."

Grissom narrowed his eyes. Even after only a day and a half of knowing Shelly and hearing her call him 'dad', he was getting used to it; now Gil didn't sound right coming from her. "I'll think about it."

"But dad, it's my obligation; my responsibility to get it to Debbie so she can burry it."

"But she'll have his body sent back to Chicago to be buried." He retorted confused.

"Father, listen to me … read my lips since I know you can. It's my obligation. I'm his keeper. I need to go see him before we leave tomorrow night."

Grissom's eyebrow rose questioningly. _She still hasn't told me what this keeper thing is._ "What's a 'keeper'?"

Shelly sighed. "If I tell you, will I be aloud to get in and see him and to take his shirt."

"I can get you in to see him but I can not let you take his shirt, it's evidence in the investigation against Rhory." Grissom said matter-of-factly.

She huffed. "Fine, but I need something of his. Maybe his watch, or hat … his hat isn't evidence."

"Fine, I'll see about the hat, now what's a 'keeper'?"

She tried to make herself seem nonchalant by walking into the kitchen to grab the bag of chips from the cupboard. "A keeper is someone who takes the trapped soul from the deceased and brings it to the loved ones who were left behind. They then take the personal item that the keeper took from the body and burry it. It's done for two reasons; one, so that, even though the body is in the cemetery, the loved ones have a piece of the deceased buried near by. And two, it symbolizes the fact that what's done is buried and now the soul can go to heaven and be free."

She opened the bag and fiddled with it just so that her hands had something to do. She leaned against the counter and stared at the floor as Grissom sat at the island. "The second part of my responsibility is to protect the loved ones of the deceased that I'm keeping for. I am now responsible for whatever happens to Debbie and her littlest, Quinston, as well as Lukas, the little boy she's fostering. It is my duty to make sure nothing happens to them."

Grissom's brow went up further.

"If I had protected D that night in the park, if I had just noticed Rhory like I should have then he'd still be here to protect that house, but now I have to."

"So what do you have to do exactly?"

"The vow states that now I have to take the place of D and protect them."

"What kind of vow is that?"

"It's an important vow that most uhhh …" The only things he knew about her past was that she wasn't always on the right side of the law and that Rhory had raped her. She was unsure of how to bring up the other stuff.

He gave an encouraging noise for her to go on so she took a very, very deep breath and rushed her sentence as she exhaled. "It's a vow that most gangs take to assure the decease's family is taken care of."

Grissom sat stunned. _Gangs? What the…_

Sara stepped in the front door and walked to the kitchen with her take out bags. She was about to place them on the counter when she suddenly felt a chill. Looking around at the other two occupants, she knew why the chill was there.

"Gangs?" Grissom asked disbelieving. "Gangs take the vow? So, you … a gang?"

Sara scowled at Shelly then turned to Grissom. "It's not as bad as you think."

"Not as bad as I … you knew?" He asked incredulously.

"I helped her. She stayed with me for the past five days. Of course I knew, but we were planning," she glared at Shelly again, "a better way to tell you. Like I said, it's not as bad…"

"As I think … I know." He finished sharply as he stood and walked over to the living room. He sat down heavily on the couch and placed his head in his hands. "I didn't think… I can't believe I let that happen to you. The more I hear about you the more I want to just… I don't know, do something to myself."

Sara sat down slowly beside Grissom, placing her left arm supportively around his shoulders and her right hand gently on his thigh. Shelly sat down on the floor in front of him and pulled his hands slowly from his face. She held back tears at what she saw; Grissom's eyes shone with barely unshed tears. They were a dark, deep blue that was tinged with hatred.

"How could I let my little girl go through all that?" His voice turned icy. "No matter what the damage between two people, it should never, ever involve their kids. I should have been there. She should have let me be there." His voice softened to a self-incriminating whisper. "I should have picked up her call. I should have been there."

He closed his eyes against the tears. Sara squeezed his shoulders in support but dropped her hand to his lower back when Shelly got up onto her knees and wrapped her arms tight around Grissom's neck. He reciprocated the hold just as tight. "It was never your fault, understand?" She sat back and looked into his eyes. "Understand." She demanded as she shook him firmly. At his reluctant nod she continued. "I know you would have been there okay? I know this and I've forgiven you so now it's your turn to forgive yourself."

She slowly wiped her tears; Grissom matched her actions and smiled fondly at her. "Thank you baby-girl." She smiled at the nickname. "I understand that I'm not the one that cheated but how could I not have known that she was pregnant with my child? I should have been able to feel it. To sense you. Shouldn't I?"

Shelly shook her head and grabbed his face comically between her hands, squishing his cheeks. "Watch my hands." She demanded then let go of his face and slowly signed, _"I forgive you because no matter what, I love you."_

He smiled and pulled her to him again. After a minute he said, "Let's eat before everything gets cold." They stood up, Shelly and Sara getting the plates and cutlery while Grissom got the grub ready.

"When am I going to see him?" It had been relatively silent throughout their meal so when Shelly spoke, Sara jumped slightly. Grissom just kept chewing while thinking over her question.

"I think I can bring you in at the beginning of shift. I'll get you, Sara to start everyone off. Just tell them I'm in the morgue and that afterwards I'll be in my office doing paperwork."

Shelly finished off her last bite and posited, "What are you going to say when people ask who I am?"

Grissom and Sara both looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "What do you think I'd tell them?" Grissom asked.

"Well, it's going to be weird to just walk into the lab and suddenly announce to your close friends and co-workers that you have a daughter. Not to mention the fact you're a grandfather."

Grissom smiled, still overjoyed that he was, in fact, a father and grandfather, then he quickly tracked what she was saying. "It will be weird."

"Not to mention, won't it look bad on you to be a veteran CSI and shift supervisor and to have never known that you had family out there?" Sara and Grissom exchanged dumbfounded stares. "I mean, think about it. You pride yourself on being able to find anything and everything right? Well, you couldn't find…"

"I get it." Grissom said more sharply then he wanted. When Shelly looked at her plate sheepishly, Grissom softened his tone. "I get it Shelly. Are you sure about this though? You want me to walk in there and make sure that everyone knows that you're not my family? Is that really what you want?"

"No, but it's the way it has to be." He still looked doubtful. "Look, it will be bad for your career to magically appear and have a family. Like I said, your work involves finding the clues and what are people going to think if you couldn't even find clues that you had a family? I know it sounds harsh but it's true."

Grissom nodded reluctantly and picked up his plate, bringing it to the kitchen. "So, what are we going to say?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**9:57pm**

"Hey." Sara greeted as she stood in the break room doorway awkwardly. When she had everyone's attention, she jumped in, "Catherine, you continue with your case from last night." She cleared her throat, still awkward. "Nicky, Warrick, there's a multiple 419 with your names on it." She flashed the slip then placed it on the table. She then turned to Greg. "Greg, you've got a B&E. When you're finished with that, if they need it, join Nicky and Warrick with their case."

They all continued to stare at her until Catherine finally broke the silence. "Where's Griss?"

"He's at the morgue. He told me to hand out assignments. He and I will be working on paperwork since we both have a week off starting after shift tonight."

Ignoring the quizzical stares, Sara nodded her goodbye and left for the morgue. In the hall, she breathed a sigh of relief thinking, _that wasn't so bad._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inside the morgue, Shelly and Grissom stood side-by-side beside the slab that currently held Deryck Malcolm Darwin. Doc Robbins was on the opposite side.

"Are you ready?" At Shelly's nod, Robbins started to pull back the cloth but was stopped when Shelly's hands settled on top of his. He glanced up at her, his brows creased in silent question.

"Can I do this alone please?" When the two doctors looked doubtful, Shelly bargained, "You don't have to leave me in here alone if you're afraid I'll contaminate something. I just don't want an audience." Both men nodded their understanding.

Shelly looked down at the white sheet that currently hid Deryck's body from her vision. "I've never hated the colour white more then now." She shook her head and slowly pulled the sheet back to reveal his face. "So peaceful are you..." she sang. "Your beautiful soul hidden behind death... cherish your passed time … I'll take care of you while I say this rhyme…"

Just outside the door, the two doctors shared bewildered looks. "I've never seen or heard anyone sing to a corpse."

"Nor have I, Al."

Robbins nodded. "She sounds beautiful though. Just the right roughness to go with her soft accent."

Grissom smirked to himself, very proud of his little girl.

Both men were startled when Sara walked up behind them. "What are you two doing?"

Both men looked at her guiltily and Grissom pointed over his shoulder at the morgue doors. "Shelly is in there saying goodbye to Deryck. She was singing and we both just wanted to listen." He said as he shrugged his shoulders. Sara walked up to the window and looked in. Grissom came up very close behind her and watched over her shoulder. Sara smiled as she felt Grissom's chest press against her back lightly; little did they know that the good doc didn't miss their proximity to each other and he too smiled as he went back to watching through his window.

Shelly pulled the sheet down a little more to show the gunshot wound and slowly shook her head saying, "How could I sell something so dangerous to people so stupid?" She closed her eyes and looked down quickly before taking a deep breath.

She placed her right hand over his heart, lowered her mouth to his ear, closed her eyes, and, with her left hand over her own heart, whispered, "Dear God, grant me the will, strength, and power to protect the loved ones this tragedy has forced to leave behind. Please God, protect his soul as it travels with me to his mother. And, as it is buried three feet into her yard, please, please grant her the will to live on for her youngest, Quinston."

As she stood up, she brought her right index and middle fingers to her forehead then slowly down to the middle of her chest; she raised them again, slowly, to her left shoulder then slid them across to her right before placing a gentle kiss to her fingers and doing the same motions over Deryck's forehead, chest and shoulders. She ended by placing a gentle touch of her lips to his right cheek, then his left.

The doors opened just as she was straightening up and, without acknowledging the three who were standing silently just inside the doors, she closed her eyes and placed her right hand back over his heart. She began to whisper again, this time with more force. "Please God, grant me the will and power to forgive the evil in the man who took the life of this young being who stole my heart. He was a brother and for that, there will be no revenge but security." She leaned down to his ear again and finished with, "Don't you worry Deryck, your mother and brother are going to be safe under my watch. I promise you this."

She straightened up one last time and replaced the impersonal white sheet back over his head. As she walked past, Sara wrapped her right arm around her shoulders. Grissom said goodbye and thanks to Robbins and followed them to his office.

Once inside, with the lab rats and others locked out and the curtains closed, Grissom grabbed hold of Shelly and hugged her fierce; she returned it just as tight.

"I just have to keep remembering that I'll be in Chicago in less than twenty-four hours." Shelly wiped her watery eyes and sat down on the couch.

"I'm sorry Shelly. I … I don't know what else to say or do." Grissom shrugged his shoulders sadly.

"You don't have to say or do anything other then what you're doing now. Thank you both." She squeezed their hands gently, let go, then placed her hands in her lap.

"Sara, why don't you go grab your paperwork and we can both work in here. I don't want either of us to leave Shelly's side right now." Sara nodded and left.

"I'm not a suicidal idiot, father, you don't have to baby-sit me." Shelly spat.

Grissom didn't take offence, knowing that she was in a hard emotional state right now. "I know I don't need to baby-sit you but I still don't want you alone right now. I had to deal with a family loss once and, although my mother was there with me, it was still hard. I couldn't imagine going through this alone."

"I've been going through this alone for almost thirteen years."

Grissom cringed then sighed and took his seat behind his desk. "That's done with Shelly. You won't be alone anymore, I promise that."

Sara walked in and took a seat next to Shelly on the couch. Grissom brought his folders to the table in front of them and pulled up a guest chair and sat down. For the next four hours of shift they sat in his office doing paperwork and talking.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**3:34am Tuesday**

Grissom, Sara, and Shelly were sitting at a circular booth in the 24-hour diner across the street from CSI when Catherine, Warrick, Nick, and Greg came walking up to them.

"So, you decided to go for lunch and not invite us." Catherine stated in mock hurt as she flopped down onto the bench beside Shelly. Warrick and Nick sat down beside Sara and Greg grabbed a chair from the next table and pulled it up.

Grissom, who was sitting between Shelly and Sara, stated, "We didn't know that you guys were back from your scenes." He shrugged his shoulders and continued eating his burger.

Catherine only then noticed Shelly beside her and held out her hand. "Catherine Willows. Who are you?"

_So much for subtly_, Sara thought as she saw Shelly and Grissom both grimace. "Shelly is a friend of ours from San Francisco." Sara answered.

Everyone around the table but Shelly and Grissom raised their brows. "How come we've never heard of her before? And did you say a friend of _both_ of you? How old is she? She can't be any older then 16, maybe 17."

"I'm 18." Shelly said defensively.

"She's 18 and from Chicago. Her cousin used to live by me in 'Frisco. Whenever Shelly came to visit him, she'd get annoyed by his drinking and come hang out with me at my place." Grissom smiled at Sara. _Very good snow job,_ he thought.

"But you said 'a friend of both of you'." Catherine was never one to back down from a mystery.

"She is a friend of both of us, Catherine." Grissom stated. "After I met Sara at the seminar, we kept in contact. During one of the times I was asked to go back to 'Frisco and help on a case of Sara's, I met Shelly." He placed his arm around the girl's shoulders and smiled.

_Who are you and what have you done with Gil Grissom?_ Nick, Warrick, and Catherine all thought; Greg just sat there smiling.

Shelly smiled up at her father.

After a few minutes, Grissom, Sara, and Shelly pushed their way out of the booth. Grissom tossed money on the table to cover their cheque and waved, "If we don't see you guys before we leave for Chicago tonight, then this is good bye for a week."

The four left at the table looked toward the door to see that Grissom had his arm around Shelly's shoulders, playfully pulling her to him and laughing at a joke she must have said. Sara was on the other side of Shelly and lightly punched her in the shoulder as they walked back across the street to CSI.

Back at the table, Catherine turned towards the guys but saw that Greg had left the table and only Nick and Warrick were there; their dumbfounded stares matched her own. Shrugging, they all ordered their lunches and chowed down.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Chicago!"

Shelly turned out of Grissom's hold and saw Greg running towards them. She watched him as he crossed the street and jogged the rest of the way to the CSI parking lot, where they stood.

"Hey Greggo. What's up?" Shelly smiled shyly at him as he stood in front of her, reciprocating her shy smile.

"Just wanted to talk to you for a second."

"You know each other?" Grissom asked.

Shelly was still smiling shyly at Greg, which irked Grissom in a way he'd never felt before, as she answered, "We met each other a few times within the lab."

Grissom was about to ask more when Sara grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him toward the building. "Leave them be." She chided him with a knowing smile. He glared at her a second before glancing back at Greg but his glare went ignored.

"So what's up?"

"I just wanted to say congratulations."

"For what?" Shelly looked at him with raised brows.

"For finally finding your dad; I'm happy for you both. He can be a bit of a hardass, but he's cool once you get used to it. Maybe with you around he can loosen up a bit."

Greg reached out and placed his index and middle finger under her chin, closing it for her. She shook her head and Greg couldn't help but laugh. "How do you … how did you figure it out?"

"I followed the evidence given to me. I don't know what they told you about me but I'm actually a pretty decent CSI." He joked. Shelly looked down and laughed nervously then glanced back up at him pleadingly. "Don't worry Chicago," Greg, mindful that she was weary with men, placed his hand gently on her shoulder, "I'm not going to tell anyone. As far as I know, they don't know anything but the story you guys fed them."

Shelly smiled and, forgetting for a second everything that had happened to her, or maybe it was just because Greg seemed like a safe guy, she wrapped her arms around his waist. After his initial shock wore off, Greg wrapped his arms around her neck. The physical connection was making it hard to fight off the attraction he felt for the girl twelve years his junior.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"How well do they know each other? Am I supposed to be this agitated? You were a young girl her age once … was that look on her face a crush? I couldn't handle having my daughter having a crush on Sanders. Ugh, not to mention the fact that if they got together and married, Greg Sanders would be part of my family. And on top of that, they would have little demon children running around listening to Manson and Metallica; their green and blonde spiky hair poking the eyes out of the other little children at day care. Ugh!" Grissom made fake gagging noises as he fell heavily onto the couch in his office. He leaned his head back and placed his hands over his face.

Sara had been sitting on the couch for his entire rant, smiling up at the paranoid father knowingly. _Wonder how long it's going to take for that word not to feel funny when associated with Grissom?_ She thought. When he fell heavily beside her, she placed her right hand on his knee, very giddy at the new privilege to do that, and said gently, "That look on her face is a crush." She ignored his snarl. "And I know for a fact that Greg is crushin' her too." At that, Grissom removed his hands from his face a visibly shuddered.

"Come on Griss, it can't be that bad. I mean, I bet they aren't even going to hook up." She knew she worded that wrong when his glare landed on her. "I didn't mean 'hook up' as in … look, I know this whole protective father thing you've got going on is new so I'm going to give you a pointer. Let the girl be when it comes to men. Trust me, she knows enough about them to stay far away from the bad ones."

His confused eyes bore into hers but she wasn't going to elaborate. She knew it was Shelly's job to tell her father about her past, _whether she does or not is up to her._

Shelly walked casually into the office and, after closing the door, just as casually, announced, "Greggo knows." She sat down in the chair behind his desk.

"Greggo," Grissom rolled his eyes at the name, "knows what?"

"He knows you're my father." She shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Well," Sara started after gathering herself from the shock, "I guess Greg is a better CSI then most of you guys give him credit for."

Grissom looked at her and then to Shelly. "How?"

She shrugged once again. "Wasn't that hard for him. He knew that I hadn't met Sara before her getting my case so that was one thing. Another was the fact that he knew I was looking for my father and when you oh-so-casually put your arm 'lovingly', as he put it, over my shoulders, he just knew. Not to mention the fact that you don't lie, yet you went along with the shit that Sara was spewing at the diner." She picked up a pen and started doodling on a piece of paper as the two CSI's in the room processed what she said.

With her face still down looking at the paper she commented, "It's not that big a deal you know. It's not like he's going to run around the lab with a big sign reading, 'GIL GRISSOM HAS AN ILIGITAMATE LOVE CHILD WHO ALSO HAS AN ILIGITAMATE BASTARD SON!'" She rolled her eyes at their haunted expressions. "You really don't think much of Greg do you?"

"Yes, we do, it's just that image is a bit much for your dad considering his rant earlier." Sara answered. At Shelly's raised brow, Sara elaborated, "After seeing you two downstairs, he's worried that you and Greg are going to marry and have demon spawn who poke other children's eyes out while they listen to loud music that pop eardrums."

"What's wrong with that?" Shelly said this with such a straight face that she had to laugh out loud afterwards at the look of shear terror in her father's eyes. "Just leave the imagination to me, dad, and do your paperwork."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**7:43am**

Sara had driven back to her apartment after their after-shift breakfast and was packing up what was left to pack for the weeklong trip. Shelly had driven with Grissom back to his townhouse, at his request.

"So, what did you need help with?" Shelly asked as she flopped down onto the couch. She picked up the remote to the stereo and pushed play. Montgomery Gentry's "She Couldn't Change Me" was heard and Grissom cringed.

"You played with the stereo earlier didn't you?" At her shrug he asked, "Is this what I'll have to be tortured into listening to for now on?" He sat down next to her on the couch.

She placed her head on his left knee and swung her feet over the side of the couch. His hand automatically went to her head and into her hair. "Nope, I listen to everything from country to rock to alternative to hip hop to opera to…"

"Okay, okay I get it."

"Good. Now, what is it that you needed me for?" When she felt him tense she realized that it was going to be personal so she changed the topic to something comfortable, giving him time to relax more. "Which one is your favorite butterfly?" She pointed in the direction of some of his framed butterflies.

"Anthocharis Sara." He answered without thinking. He cleared his throat, "Now, for reasons I'm sure you understand, that's just between you and I all right?" Shelly chuckled. "My other would be Callicore Hesperis."

"Colour?"

"The very beautiful red, blue, and black."

"Nice. My favorites would have to be the Papilio Rutulus, or Western Tiger Swallowtail, and the Danaus Plexippus, or Monarch. I would love to be a Monarch butterfly and be able to float around in life without having to worry about enemies because they see my bright colours and are instantly afraid of my milkweed poison." Shelly laughed.

"Where did you learn about butterflies?"

"When I was bored, I would find books about everything and anything. Debbie loved to buy books for me. I have many books on bugs, crime mysteries and a few on Jack the Ripper."

Grissom made an affirmative noise and said, "I would have loved to be around in the late 1800s just to be able to work on his case."

"I know, same here." Shelly smiled. She was loving the opportunity to bond with her father and, from the whimsical smile on Grissom's face, she would guess that he loved it too.

"So, you comfortable enough to tell me what it is you needed me here for? At least tell me what it has to deal with."

Grissom sighed heavily. "Even with your mother I was never good with romance." Stroking her hair lightly was keeping him relaxed so he continued as he explained, "The situation between Sara and me is very complicated and since you're female, and not one I need to worry about being made fun of by like Catherine, I need your help with setting something up."

"Lots of music."

"What?"

"Whatever it is, make sure there is lots of music."

"Duly noted."

"What else do you need?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**6:23pm Wednesday – Chicago's St. Francis Hospital**

"Oh my god, Debbie." Shelly's right hand flew up to cover her mouth as she gasped.

After a slight layover in Seattle, their plane had landed in Chicago just before 5:00 that afternoon. They had driven straight from the airport to St. Francis Hospital and now Shelly, Sara, and Grissom stood just outside the hospital room, looking in the window at a battered and bruised Debbie. The right side of her head was covered in gauze, her left wrist in a cast and left leg splinted.

Grissom, still uncomfortable and uncertain about his new role, stood back slightly and let Sara wrap her right arm around Shelly's shoulders to comfort her. He watched in awe as Shelly leaned into Sara's side and buried her face, amazingly sans tears, into Sara's shoulder. They looked as if they'd known each other forever.

The doctor tapped Shelly on the shoulder lightly and when he got her distracted attention, he reported, "She has suffered a concussion and many cracked ribs but is in stable condition. She has a broken left wrist and a fractured left tibia. In other words, her left leg is cracked but there's not much we can do about that but splint it, as you can see."

He looked back in at Debbie for a second before continuing, "She's asleep at the moment but you can go in there and wait. When she wakes up, she'll be able to converse with you but I will tell you now that I don't want her oxygen mask to be removed from her face for more then ten seconds. She suffered several cracked ribs from the baseball bat and she is having troubles breathing. If she takes it off for too long then alarms with sound and if that happens then I'll have to ask you to leave. If she gets worked up in anyway that I deem harmful to her recovery then I'll have to ask you to leave. Understood?" He asked gently.

"Yes sir." Shelly replied in a distant voice.

The doctor nodded his head, said goodbye to the three of them and then walked off down the hall.

"The ICU is way too quiet." Shelly whispered, not taking her eyes off Debbie's peacefully sleeping form.

Sara wrapped her arms around Shelly, who quickly reciprocated the hug, kissed her on the top of her head and then walked down the hall towards the doors.

Grissom watched his baby girl from a few feet away for a few more seconds. He then walked up to her and held her from behind. "I'm so sorry this happened, Shelly."

Shelly half smiled, "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked slightly perplexed.

"For being here with me. For not leaving or pushing me away when you found out who I am. That's the first thing I thought you were going to do. I didn't know who you were; all I knew was that you didn't want me. Or at least, that's what mom said."

"I always wanted you, Shelly. I wish I knew about you before because I would have been there."

"I know…"

"So just get that thought out of your head because I'm not leaving or pushing you away. You and Brennan are my family." Shelly smiled as Grissom leaned down and planted a reassuring kiss to her temple.

Shelly sighed contentedly, stepped out of his embrace, and then turned to face him. "Chuck has everything set up for you in your room, 236. There you'll find everything you need for your special night. If you need anything more," She pulled a number out of her pants pocket, "then phone Chuck."

"You keep throwing this guys name around saying he'll do anything and everything you ask, so, I ask … who is Chuck exactly?" He asked wearily as he pocketed the number.

"He's just a friend of mine who works in the hotel. Now, I'll have the room across the hall from you guys but I'm most likely not even going to be there at all tonight so you don't have to worry about grossing me out with any noises you guys make."

Grissom, blushing profusely, babbled, "We… it's not… we weren't planning… I wasn't planning…" He looked down at his feet embarrassed as Shelly laughed lightly.

"I understand human biology, dad. It's normal that a man and woman after a romantic dinner and dancing might feel up to…" She snickered at her play on words, "intercourse." She had to laugh again at his expression.

After getting over his shock that his daughter had no qualms to talk to him about this, _definitely gets it from Bekka, _he asked, "Where are you going to be if you're not at the hotel? Here?"

"Here and there. I know my way around Chicago dad. Don't worry." She pulled him into a hug and whispered, "Have a great night. Good luck"

Grissom smiled and, after her assurance that she'd be fine, walked towards Sara, who was still waiting by the doors. "What was that about?"

Grissom waved off her question, grabbed hold of her hand, and walked out to the silver and black Chrysler Sebring that they had rented.

Shelly stood just inside Debbie's door with nothing to do but think. _I should have been here. I was selfish to think of only myself and leave her alone with my son … my problems. Rhory better get the fuckin' death penalty for the shit he's put us through. My fault though, I should've been here damnit._ Shelly's thoughts were interrupted by the nurse.

"Sweetie, are you going to go in?" The short, late-twenties nurse had a sympathetic smile as she walked past Shelly and into the room to check Deb's vitals.

Snapping back to the now, Shelly walked slowly towards Debbie's bedside. When she was no less then five feet away, she stopped. _What am I doing? It's because of me that she's in here. She won't want me here._

_But she loves you, she'd said you're family._

_But that doesn't mean she would want you here after the shit you … I put her through._

_Dear lord, I'm goin' crazy._ She shook her head and stepped within two feet of the bed. She still couldn't bring herself to touch her yet; the guilt weighed down heavily on her.

When she finally got the nerve, she walked to the side of the bed and laid her hand gently on Debbie's. The nurse smiled down at Shelly, who was easily five inches shorter than her. "It's never easy to see loved ones with wires and tubes hanging every-which-way." Nurse Rebecca, according to her nameplate, said sympathetically.

Shelly shook her head, "My mom's name was Rebekah. Yours is spelt differently though."

Rebecca understood the distraction. "Yeah, mine is the most common way to spell it. When I was younger," She continued as she took notes, "I kept thinking of different spellings to change it to. I settled on keeping it this way though, since my mother was the one to choose it."

Shelly nodded, a small smile on her face, "Debbie loves the way my mom used to spell it. R-E-B-E-K-A-H. She said that if she ever had a little girl then she would want to name her that." Shelly looked back down at her still swollen face.

"She kept telling me about you. That is, when we aloud her to speak." Rebecca chuckled. "I think Doctor Branson just likes the control he has over patients." Shelly smiled. "Anyway, she kept telling me how you're coming back from … where was it that you were?"

"Las Vegas."

"Oooooh, I love Las Vegas. Been there once and I so want to go back. Were you there visiting family?"

"Uh, you could say that." She mumbled.

_Touchy subject,_ Rebecca noted to herself. "So, when Ms. Darwin wakes up, I'm sure she'll have lots to say to you. But, as I'm sure Doctor Branson told you…"

"She can't have the mask up for more than ten seconds or alarms … I'll be gone … blah blah blah," Shelly chuckled, "I heard it all." She smiled to take the sting out of her words.

"I'll be just down the hall." Rebecca said. "Need anything, give me a holler." Shelly nodded and when the nurse left, she sat down in the chair beside the bed, laid her head on her left arm and gripped Debbie's left hand tight in her right.

"Family is family. I'm here now." She mumbled. Not ten minutes later, she fell asleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grissom watched as the bellboys grabbed his, Sara's, and Shelly's luggage from the trunk of their car and placed it onto a cart. He grabbed Sara's hand and they followed them into the lobby of the hotel. It wasn't a huge hotel but fair sized with bellboys and a small diner attached to the lobby. "Chuck will be with you in a minute sir." Grissom nodded and waited with Sara.

Five minutes later, a very flamboyant young man came strolling up to them. "Hey there, you must be the Ms. Sidle that Shelly has been going on about." He reached for her hand and placed a gentle kiss on top. He turned to Grissom and looked him up and down appreciatively. "I must say, you look fine for a man with an almost twenty year old daughter." Chuck blushed. "I'm sorry, I keep being told not to use my outside voice."

As Sara stood there trying to hide her amused laugh, Grissom cleared his throat and grasp Sara's hand tight, as if announcing … SEE, WOMAN FOR ME! "I take it you must be Chuck." Grissom shook his hand.

"Yes, yes, that is I." He pulled two envelopes from his hidden coat pocket and handed them to Grissom. He then turned to Sara, "Now, if you will follow me miss, then I'll bring you to your floor. Dr. Grissom, you may follow to." Chuck winked at him and walked off with a laughing Sara on his arm and another bellboy pushing their luggage forward.

Grissom glanced down at the envelopes and opened the first one, which had a number 1 on the front. Inside was a printed off email:

_Dad,_

_You have obviously met Chuck by now, so what do you think? Pretty cool guy eh? And you were worried that when I said he would do ANYTHING for me that it had something to do with sex. Haha. Not even close. I saved his ass from getting picked on in school, that's why he'd do anything for me. I hope he didn't embarrass you with his 'outside voice.'_

_Now onto the reason I'm writing this._

_Upstairs, there will be everything you and I talked about before we left. I got Chuck to set everything up including the CD. Now, number one on the CD is the song you and I talked about but then the rest of the CD are songs that I chose for you. I felt they were relevant to your relationship with Sara, for all that I heard anyway. _

_There are also a few fun songs on there, even though I know you don't hold country music high on your list of likes, I placed a few in there. If you want to know the reasons for the songs I chose then those are in envelope two. You can share them with Sara._

_The lyrics you asked for are beside the stereo. I made Chuck do them up fancy so that Sara can keep them as a souvenir._

_I want you two to have as much fun as you can. Don't worry about noise level of the music or of anything else. -cough- GROSS -cough-_

_Have fun. Love Shelly._

Grissom smiled as they reached their door, 236. He tucked the page into his pocket, along with the second envelope. Chuck smiled at him as he pulled out their key card. "Wait here while we set your luggage inside." Sara's eyebrows rose to new heights as she watched the two bellboys walk into their room. _Why are we waiting out here? _She wondered. Looking up at Grissom and his enigmatic smile, she new something was going on.

"All ready for you sir." Grissom nodded, handed a tip to the bellboy and to Chuck and watched them head down the hall again, whispering with each other.

Grissom wrapped his right arm around Sara's waist from behind and covered her eyes with his left hand. She squeaked in surprise but relaxed as he spoke to her, his lips grazing her ear as he did so. "I have never been a man of words Sara, unless they weren't my own. But even with other's, you render me speechless. So, with the help of Shelly and that very flamboyant young man, I have set up something that I hope tells you everything you need to know and more." With that, he slowly glided her into the room, his hand still covering her eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly suddenly sat up and held her eyes open until they were dry, then blinked quickly and held them until they were once again dry. She did this until she was certain that when she closed her eyes for more then a second, the nightmare wouldn't reappear behind her eyelids.

At her sudden move, Debbie stirred and slowly blinked away the sleep from her eyes. When she caught sight of Shelly sitting beside her, she yanked the oxygen mask off and, in a voice raspy from non-use, shrieked, "Shelly!"

Shelly snapped her eyes to Debbie and jumped out of her seat to wrap her up in a hug. "Oh my god Deb. I'm so so so so sorry for everything. For you, for Brennan, for Quinston, for wrecking your house, for …Deryck." Shelly's voice cracked. She quickly realized that she was going to get kicked out if she didn't replace the mask.

Debbie ripped it away from her face again, "You have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing. We're family." Shelly shut her up by replacing the mask again.

"I'm keeping this guilt with me no matter what you say Debbie. You know that, so don't waste your breath telling me otherwise." Tears streamed down both their faces. "If you keep the mask off for too long then I'm going to be kicked out."

Off it went again. "I don't give a shit what they say Shelly, they aren't kicking you out. I'm the patient, they work for me, they listen to me." Shelly laughed at her and sat back in her chair. They sat like that for an hour before Debbie got too tired to stay up.

"I'm going to go but I promise I'll be back all right?" Debbie nodded and fell asleep as Shelly quietly left the hospital and went in search of the one person she truly needed to see.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N:** HOLY S--T! **Over 7,000** words! I'm not sure about this chapter myself, but I hope you enjoyed it. I'll hopefullyadd the next chapter much quicker then I added this one. As I said before, my computer is being very unfriendly and therefore I have to wait to go to the resource center to add chapters._

_If anyone thought that not going straight to Brennan when they got to Chicago was unrealistic, I apologize but I figured that once they saw Brennan, they wouldn't leave his side so I'm giving them a night to get things together first. And I'm sorry for any mistakes I've made sinceI've never been to Chicago._

_**Next Chapter:** Romance, fluff, and little angst. Plus, Grissom's baby double!_


	12. Different Views

**A/N: **This is my first attempt at anything romantic. I'm sorry for those who might think the beginning is too cheesy, but … too bad because I liked it.smiles This is dedicated to **odeepblue** who requested a little romance.

**Chapter 11 – Different Views**

**8:42pm Wednesday**

"Where are you?" Shelly asked into the phone.

_"We brought lil' B toour place. We figured it'd be more better for you here then at that neighbor lady's cave. I swear, that lady is fuckin' nuts, plus she's got all those cats. How could you trust her with baby genius?"_

Shelly chuckled. "Thanks for the laugh, Sage but you know she's the named guardian of Debbie's kids if anything should happen to her. I'll be over in about twenty minutes."

_"Sure thing babe but the boy's sleepin'"_

"That's fine. See you in a little while." Shelly pocketed her cell phone as she walked up to the counter. She handed the clerk a ten-dollar bill and her fake ID. "One pack of Camel lights."

As she walked out of the corner store, she pulled out her lighter and opened the pack of cigarettes. She took one long puff and sighed, "It's been too fuckin' long."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The first thing Sara knew when she walked into the room, her eyes still being shielded by Grissom's hand, was the smell of flowers assaulting her nose. After taking a long sniff she sighed, "This smells absolutely beautiful." It was half a minute later, while still standing in Grissom's arms when she asked, "Can I peek now?"

Her question pulled Grissom from his trance. Not knowing what to expect, the sight before him had rendered him speechless. He shook his head, not agreeing with Sara; it wasn't just beautiful, it was absolutely gorgeous.

When he pulled his hand from Sara's eyes, she hissed in a quick breath. "It's stunning," was all she could manage.

Two covered plates were set on the table along with a bucket of ice with champagne freezing inside. White rose pedals were tossed decoratively atop the red tablecloth, two tall candles were lit in the middle of the table, and the lights above were dimmed down to its lowest setting.

After staring in surprise for a minute, Grissom held Sara's slightly shaking hand and walked her into the 'living area' of the hotel room. There, he found another envelope with his name written on the front leaning against a small lamp. Sara, still shaking slightly from the lovely shock of everything, stood looking over Grissom's shoulder as he opened the envelope.

_Dad,_

_I know what we talked about was a simple dinner with the right music but I went the next step for you. I didn't want this to just be a night for Sara, but for both of you. _

_Chuck volunteered to prepare his greatest vegetarian lasagna for you both so that Sara could keep her veggie ways and you could still enjoy a tasty meal. Although I'm unsure of how the room turned out, since I left that for Chuck, I'm damn sure that it's fantastically romantic. I just told him Sara's favorite flower, the white rose, and let him work with it so I hope you enjoy._

_Everything, as I wrote before, is set up just the way we talked, dad, but I added more for you two. _

_After a great dinner, you can phone down to Chuck and he will bring you a very wonderfully delicious dessert. Trust me, I was his taste tester when he was going through his 'cooking phase' and his work is magnificent._

_Okay … now that I've interrupted your great night with my spiel, I want you to take Sara's hand right now, march over to that stereo system, turn it on, and do every last thing we talked about. Then, switch the first CD to the second one. It has only instrumentals for background to your dinner. Finally, I want you to take her hand again and walk over to the dining table and have the romantic night that you wished you hadn't wasted time on before._

_Have all the fun in the world and good luck._

_Love you both,_

_Shelly_

Grissom did as Shelly demanded and grabbed hold of Sara's hand as he placed the note back onto the end table. He didn't have to navigate through any couches or chairs since they had already been pushed to the outer walls of the 'living area'.

At the stereo, Sara noticed a silver frame; she went to grab for it with her free hand but Grissom smacked it playfully away. When she looked up at him questioningly he just smiled back shyly. "Let me do this right." He whispered and she nodded.

After taking a deep breath to relax himself, he grabbed both of Sara's hands within his own and stared into her eyes. _This isn't hard. Just do it. You already know she's here with you._ "Sara," he breathed. Shaking his head lightly, he forced himself to sound confident.

"You know me with words of my own is something that will most likely never happen around you; I lose myself when I'm around you. Knowing me, this is all going to seem very out-of-character but I want you to know that I want to change for the better, for Shelly, for Brennan and lastly for you. I want to be with you, Sara." He said with finality. He took another steadying breath and continued,

"The frame you were about to reach for hold the lyrics to a song that I first heard a couple days ago with Shelly. As soon as I heard them I knew they were written for you … me … us." He stumbled a little but breathed deep and stared straight into her eyes. "I want you to have the lyrics but not now. Now, I want you to dance with me and let the first time you hear these lyrics to be with you in my arms." Sara nodded and blinked back the tears building behind her eyes.

Grissom pushed play and held Sara tightly to his body. His right arm wrapped around her waist as his left hand held her right hand to his chest. They swayed in rhythm to "Here By Me" from 3 Doors Down.

_I hope you're doing fine out there without me  
'Cause I'm not doing so good without you  
The things I thought you'd never know about me  
Were the things I guess you always understood_

_So how could I have been so blind for all these years?  
Guess I only see the truth through all this fear,  
And living without you…_

_And everything I have in this world  
And all that I'll ever be  
It could all fall down around me.  
Just as long as I have you,  
Right here by me._

"This next verse takes me back to the first time I had to leave you in San Francisco. I was absolutely floored when you hugged me before I left on my flight back to Las Vegas. That showed courage Miss Sidle." They both smiled and listened intensely when Brad Arnold's voice came back through the speakers.

_I can't take another day without you  
'Cause baby, I could never make it on my own  
I've been waiting so long, just to hold you  
And to be back in your arms where I belong _

Sorry I can't always find the words to say  
But everything I've ever known gets swept away  
Inside of your love…

_And everything I have in this world  
And all that I'll ever be  
It could all fall down around me.  
Just as long as I have you,  
Right here by me._

Grissom started to hum in tune with the song and, as the lyrics started back up, he leaned in close to Sara's ear and started singing along with Brad Arnold.

_As the days grow long I see  
That time is standing still for me  
When you're not here _

Sorry I can't always find the words to say  
Everything I've ever known gets swept away  
Inside of your love

As the song finished in the background, Grissom reached his hand up to wipe away Sara's tears. "I'm dead serious Sara. I know I've been throwing out double entendres and mixed signals for a long time," He smiled at Sara's unintelligent snort. "But I want you to know that everything that song said was true.

You always understood me, and even though it still scares me, I don't think I could live another day without you. I have been blind for many years, but now … now, everything I have in this world and all that I'll ever be, it could all fall down around me just as long as I have you, right here by me." He softly sang the last part as he gently touched foreheads with Sara. "I …" He breathed out slowly. "I love you Sara and I hope it's not too late."

Sara was stunned speechless and stood staring into Grissom's hopeful eyes as the beginning strings of Edwin McCain's "I'll Be" starting playing in the background. After the most nerve wracking thirty seconds of Gil Grissom's life, he finally heard the second most amazing words he'd ever heard in his life, "I love you too Gil."

Grissom smiled bright and leaned down to place the most gentle of kisses to Sara's lips. When he pulled back, Sara looked deep into his soulfully blue eyes and couldn't help but smile back. "It would have never been too late." Grissom leaned down again and captured Sara's lips with more passion this time.

Breaking away, he breathed, "I think it's time to eat before taking this any further. We don't want to upset Chuck by wasting his magnificent lasagna." Sara smiled and, after he had switched CDs, aloud Grissom to guide her back to the table.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**9:12pm**

Shelly snuffed out her third cigarette as she reached for the doorknob. When she stepped inside the entrance hallway to the townhouse, she nearly choked on the smoky fog. "You know, you guys really need to start smoking outside the apartment. I'm not letting Brenn stay here with this shit lofting through the air." As she stepped into the TV room, she came face-to-face with a very bubbly and hyper nineteen-year-old girl.

She was wrapped up in a bear hug that cut off her air supply and she had to recoil when "Oh My God!" was yelled right beside her ear.

"I missed you too Celeste." Shelly smiled and returned the hug. When Celeste finally let Shelly step away, she walked over to Sage, who was able to control his jubilance, and wrapped him into a fierce hug. "I've missed you."

The twenty-two year old with died blonde hair, green eyes, chocolate colored skin, and brown goatee kissed the top of her head and stepped back from the hug, holding Shelly at arms length. "Look at you Chica; you look like you haven't eaten in days. What happened to the strong, muscular young thug that I saw leave for god knows where only a couple weeks ago?"

Shelly laughed. "I've eaten just fine the past few days." She said, slapping his chest lightly, "It was the couple weeks before I found Sara that I hadn't eaten. But you watch it bitch 'cause I know I can still kick your toothpick ass." Shelly winked and walked toward the fridge. She pulled out a beer and started toward the couch.

Cels and Sage looked at her like she'd gone mad. "Since when do you drink Shim?"

"Since my life has been thrown for a major loop that I'm sure I won't figure out in the few days I'm here." She took a long swig, swallowed, and pulled the bottle away quickly. She held it up and looked at it like it had bitten her. "What the fuck is this stuff? How can you drink this? It's like piss water with foam."

"It's not that bad once you get used to it and what do you have to figure out before you leave here? When are you leaving us again?" Cels asked as she sat beside Shelly on the couch. Sage sat cross-legged on the floor in front of them and placed his hands on Shelly's knees.

"I leave in two days. Now, I'm D's keeper so I have to stay here and protect Debbie, Q, and Lukas but I really, really want to spend more time with my dad. Like 'move to Vegas and stay with him' kind of time. How am I going to do this?"

"If Deb tells you you're released then you can go."

"But she's not going to. She needs me."

"That old broad don't need nobody." Sage said. "She's strong as hell and got money to spare. You know her old man was gang before he got got. Even after seven years, she's got money left in her cookie jar."

"I know but…"

"But nothing Shells. She's not goin' to make you stay here when you just found your daddy. She knows how important that was to you. You and B will do good out there with him." Cels said gently.

Shelly smiled at her friends and tipped the beer back to take a swig. She grimaced as she swallowed and stood up, handing the rest of the bottle to Sage. "I seriously don't get how you guys can drink that shit." She went out on the porch, had one last cigarette for the night, then walked back in. After saying goodnight to Sage and Cels, she closed the bedroom door behind her and walked up to the bed Brennan was sleeping in.

As she climbed under the blankets, she noticed Brennan's eyes open wide and stare at her in the darkness. "Hey Baby B." Shelly's voice nearly cracked with emotion. "I've missed you so much." She gathered Brennan into her arms and watched as he smiled, laid his head down onto her chest, and fell back asleep, the smile still fixed on his face.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**10:42pm**

After they had finished their very delicious dessert of chocolate brownie cake with a mountain of whipped cream, Grissom had led Sara back into the 'living area'.

He switched back to the first CD and pressed song three. As the beginning of "Collide" by Howie Day started playing, Grissom grabbed hold of Sara once again and held her tight, as if she was his lifeline.

When the course came around for the first time, Grissom smiled as he realized that his daughter did an excellent job in choosing songs.

_Even the best fall down sometimes_

_Even the wrong words seem to rhyme_

_Out of the doubt that fills my mind_

_I somehow find_

_You and I collide_

He held her even closer to his body as he heard,

_I'm quiet you know_

_You make a first impression_

_I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind_

Knowing the lyrics to this song, Sara leaned close to Grissom's ear and sang the last course,

_Even the best fall down sometimes_

_Even the wrong words seem to rhyme_

_Out of the doubt that fills **your** mind_

_**You** finally find_

_**You** and **I** collide_

_You finally find_

_You and I collide_

Grissom smiled at Sara for ever-so-subtly putting emphasis on the three words. As "Back At One" by Mark Wills started playing, Sara sighed and released Grissom's left hand to be able to wrap both her arms around his neck and bringing their bodies as close together as possible.

_It's undeniable, that we should be together  
It's unbelievable, how I used to say that I'd fall never  
It's basis you need to know you know just how I feel  
And let me show you now that I'm for real  
If all things in time, time will reveal_

_One: you're like a dream come true  
Two: just wanna be with you  
Three: girl, it's plain to see that you're the only one for me and  
Four: repeat steps 1 thru 3  
Five: make you fall in love with me  
If ever I believe my work is done  
Then I start back at one_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**12:00am Thursday**

Shelly lay awake, staring into the peaceful face of her young son. "I love you." She whispered as she kissed the top of his curls. She let her tears fall freely in the privacy of the bedroom.

"What have our lives become, eh?" She started whispering again to the sleeping form that lay sprawled out on her chest. "What is it going to become? Are we going to stay here so that your mommy can protect Debbie? Or are we going to move to Las Vegas so that we can be with our family? Well, biological family." She closed her eyes but sighed, knowing that no sleep would be coming forth tonight.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After they had danced themselves out, Grissom and Sara had sat down and cuddled on one of the couches. Now they lie, Grissom on his back with his head propped up on the armrest, his hands running lazy circles over her back; Sara on his chest with her face buried in his neck.

"Did you know that it is now, officially, twenty-four hours until my grandson's first birthday and I haven't even met him yet?" Grissom asked as he glanced at the clock on the DVD player.

Sara lifted her head and gently placed her chin on his chest so that she could look into his eyes. The problem being, he was looking away, almost as if he was ashamed. "Griss. Griss, look at me … Please, Gil, look at me." She asked. He turned his head back her way and didn't even try to hide the wateriness in his eyes. "What's wrong babe?"

"It's just … God, it just makes me so mad that Bekka never told me about Shelly. Just look at all the stuff I missed out on."

"Don't dwell on it Gil. She forgave you and has asked that you do so for yourself as well. Bekka was wrong, you know that. She … they are here now and the only thing you can do is make sure that it stays that way." _What I wouldn't do to hurt Rebekah right now for what she's done. Sara_ leaned in and kissed his lips gently.

"Thank you." He breathed before gathering her tighter into his arms and kissing her more passionately. Soon after, their hands joined in, lovingly exploring nooks and crannies they both only fantasized about touching before now.

After several minutes, their need for air forced them to break apart.

"I think this needs to be taken to some place more suitable and with more room." Grissom's voice was strained.

Sara read the desire in his eyes and felt it building against her thigh. "Agreed. Bedroom." She said quickly. She stood up and pulled Grissom to his feet. Her lips never left his as they made their way to the bedroom.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**7:41am**

Shelly's eyes flew open when she felt Brennan shifting on her chest. Her arms wrapped more tightly around him when she thought he was falling but when she saw him lying there staring at her, she loosened her arms and smiled. "Hi Baby B."

Brennan smiled, "Mama!" and wrapped his arms around his mother's neck. Shelly savored the feeling for a minute then started tickling his ribs. As Brennan giggled and fell to the bed beside her, she leaned up on her left elbow to look down at his lit up face.

"I can't believe I actually thought leaving you for a month wasn't going to be hard. I've missed you so much." She then signed, _"I love you,"_ which Brennan slowly copied. "Has Debbie been practicing with you?" She asked lovingly as she stepped out of the bed and lifted him up. Brennan wrapped his arms tight around her neck again, tight enough to cause breathing troubles. She didn't care however and led him outside the room and into the TV room.

She looked down to the floor and kicked Sage in the ribs. "Wake up Sage. I need you to run to the corner store."

"Fuck off." He mumbled sleepily.

Shelly kicked him again, harder. "No swearing in front of the boy dumba… never mind, just get up and run to the store. You need to buy a whole lot of 'Febreeze' before my dad gets here."

Sage mumbled incoherently as he stood up and went to the washroom to clean up. Half way to the washroom he turned around and half-whispered questioningly, "You're actually here? It wasn't a dream?"

Shelly laughed as she headed to the kitchen for food. "Yes, Cheech, I'm here and if you and Chong didn't get drunk and stoned last night then I'm sure you would've remembered."

"We don't do that shit no more." He said defensively. "Sorry." He said as Shelly glared at him.

"No swearing in front of the boy. Man, I'm starting to think I should have left Brennan with the neighbor lady. At least cats can't teach kids to swear." She popped open a can of apple sauce and sat with Brennan on the couch. "So, you and Chong have quit eh?"

"Yep. We quit after you left. Haven't smoked the sh… stuff in over a month and a half." He said proudly before closing the washroom door.

"He's right. We haven't since you left. The drinking still happened however, but not around Brennan. We only drank last night because you were here to stay with Brenn." Celeste said as she too woke up from her sleeping place on the floor and started tickling Brennan's foot.

Shelly smiled. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." Cels smiled back. "Now, I'm going down the hall to borrow their vacuum. I don't think your dad would appreciate this dump." Shelly nodded and kept feeding her son as the other two left on their errands.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**8:28am**

Grissom was pulled from his sleep slowly. He didn't want to wake and be pulled from the warmth that he found curled beside him. _But the phone won't answer itself,_ he thought reluctantly. Without pulling himself any farther from the warmth then needed, he pulled his cell phone from his pants on the floor and opened it.

"What."

_"Well good morning cranky. I was thinking of waiting until 10 to phone but I figured 8:30 was late enough."_

Grissom glanced at the clock and groaned.

_"That's right lover-boy, time to rise and shine. Tell that to lover-girl too because it's time you two come meet your grandson."_

After getting the directions to Sage and Celeste's townhouse, Grissom closed his cell and tossed it onto his shirt that was on the floor in a soft crumple. "Good morning, handsome."

He looked to the warmth at his side and smiled, "Good morning to you too beautiful."

Sara smiled and was very pleasantly pleased to find no hints of 'morning after awkwardness'. She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. She smiled again when she pulled away and heard his moan of protest. "Morning breath." She answered and stepped out of the bed without thinking about what she was wearing … nothing.

She turned back to see Grissom salivating while staring her up and down. "Settle grandpa. We've got people to see and things to do." Grissom smiled and watched her walk into the bathroom.

He heard her yell, "I'm having a quick shower," and didn't hesitate to ask, "Want company?" He got the only answer he needed when she stook her head out the doorway and gave him a 'come hither' stare that melted his insides. _I have been a fool for far too long._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Griss?"

Grissom grabbed hold of Sara's hand over the middle console. "Yeah."

"Shelly really did do a great job of picking songs last night huh?" Grissom smiled at the memory of Sara in his arms.

"Yeah." He then remembered the second envelope Shelly had given him. He released Sara's hand and pulled the envelope from his jacket pocket. "This is the second letter she gave me. She said that she wrote down reasons why she chose some of the less obvious songs."

Sara opened it up and asked, "Which song do you want first?"

"Let's go with that country one about leaving. The one where she came back though."

Sara read, _"She Couldn't Change Me" by Montgomery Gentry. Dad, this song was playing that night you came to me about helping you out with this. The way you spoke of your relationships with people, I knew this was a fear. You have to know that if Sara loves you now, there's nothing she wants to change about you. Other then maybe you opening up a bit, but we're working on that._

Sara smiled. "She's right you know."

"About what part?"

"That I love you and that I wouldn't want to change anything about you." Grissom nodded and smiled shyly at her quickly before turning his eyes back to the road.

"Thank you and I love you too. Now, let's go with that one about heaven."

"_Heaven" by Warrant. I was snooping one day, it's habit sorry, and I saw a photo of you and Sara by the Golden Gate Bridge. It was the one beside your bed, in the drawer. (I bet Sara is reading this right now so I'm sorry for giving up your secret … not) And I'm sure it's one that brings back memories of San Fran. __"I don't need to be the king of the world, As long as I'm the hero of this little girl." You are my new hero dad. I love you. __And finally, you have a family, welcome to heaven._

Grissom was too overwhelmed that he forgot about the snooping. _I'm her hero?_

As if reading his thoughts, Sara smiled and said, "Feels great doesn't it?" At his raised brow she clarified, "Being a hero or looked up to by someone. You know, you may not realize it but there are a few people at the lab that look up to you also."

Grissom snorted. "Like who?"

"Greg, Nicky, Warrick, Me, Catherine, David, … Peter and Erik from days… Michelle, Nicole, and Steve from Swing."

"Please stop." Grissom said. "I really don't think all those people look up to me. Peter, Nicole and Erik are all former Ecklie clones. I'm sure they hate me if Ecklie had anything to do with them. Michelle and Steve from Swing are new so they don't even know me and everyone from our shift just thinks of me as their boss."

"Do you really want to get into this?" Without waiting for an answer, Sara continued. "I've run into Michelle a few times after coming in early and every time I see her she never fails to mention how lucky we are to work with you. She's read all your papers and has seena coupleof your seminars. When I tell her to go meet you, she shies away. I think it's 'cause she likes you." Sara said playfully.

Ignoring his glare, she continued, "Peter, Nicole, and Erik are former Ecklie clones, emphasis on _former_. They removed their blindfolds and have seen the light. They know Ecklie's an ass and you're the best. You're like a brother to Cath, and a father figure to Nicky, who's was always hard on him and Warrick who didn't have one."

"Okay, stop please. That's a little too much." Sara just smiled. "They all don't look up to me."

"Why do you think David calls you sir even though you tell him not to?"

"Because his father is in the military."

"And he deems you respectable enough to place you on that level."

Grissom sighed but turned to her and smiled. "And Greg?"

"Greg adores you. Why do you think he's always out to impress you? His dad always tried to push him away from science and into sports. You allow and support him in what he likes. So, he tries to impress you like he couldn't impress his own dad."

Grissom shook his head. "I'm not losing this argument am I?"

"You'll learn soon enough that in a relationship, the woman is always right." Sara looked over at him with a smug smirk.

"Okay, Okay. Next song." Grissom grumbled good-naturedly.

_Sara, this song was for you. "Count On Me" by Default. I know it isn't a slow song but I wanted it on there. You told me what happened to you, and from what I've heard,you've toldmy dadtoo. Maybe not in so much detail but you have. "I know that life ain't always good to you. I've seen exactly what it's put you through." "You can count on me 'Cause I will carry you till you carry on, Anytime you need someone, Somebody strong to lean on." You can Sara. Me, my dad, doesn't matter which one. From now on, you'll always have someone to count on. My dad looks like he has pretty strong shoulders._

Sara sniffed back her tears. Grissom grabbed her hand and squeezed; for the rest of the ride, they traveled in comfortable silence.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**9:43am**

Grissom drove up to the parking space in front of their townhouse. He looked over to Sara and he knew that she was able to read it in his eyes.

"There's nothing to be apprehensive about Gil. You shouldn't be so tense. What? You worried Brennan isn't going to like you?" She tried to joke… it didn't go over too well. "Sorry Griss. Look, he's going to love you okay? Believe me?"

He huffed but nodded his head. He met Sara at the front of the car and practically lunged for her hand, making her smile sympathetically at him. "Everything will be fine." Grissom kissed her and let her lead the way confidently to the front door.

When she knocked, Grissom, for reasons unknown even to him, took a deep breath and held it. When the door opened, he let it out in a barely audible growl for standing in the doorway was a man illegal to be with an eighteen-year-old girl.

Sara elbowed him and gave him a warning glare, which he quickly understood.

"You have to be Ms Sidle." Sage said and reached out a hand to shake hers. He then turned to Grissom and held out his hand, shaking his firmly. "You must be Doctor Grissom, Shelly's father."

Grissom nodded and looked over Sage's shoulder to see Celeste walking up to them.

"Doctor Grissom, Ms Sidle, this is my girlfriend Celeste."

Celeste stepped forward and shook Grissom's outstretched hand. She then turned to Sara and saw tears pooling in her eyes.

"You're Cels?" Sara asked shakily. When Celeste, who also had tears pooling in her eyes, nodded, Sara pulled her into a fierce hug that was immediately reciprocated.

"Thank you." They both said in unison. They laughed lightly and pulled away.

"Thank you for taking care of Shelly in Las Vegas."

"And thank you for taking care of Shelly when she needed it most. You're a great friend to her." Cels nodded and led them into the TV room, which had been cleaned up to the best of their abilities, which was actually pretty damn clean.

"Shelly is in the shower with Brennan right now. They should be out in a few minutes." The four of them sat down, Sara and Grissom on the couch, Cels and Sage on the floor leaning against the wall. "So… Shells says that you're both into crime scene clean-up." Sage received an elbow for his question. "What?"

Celeste leaned into Sage and whispered, "They don't clean-up scenes like Shells did dumbass. Shut up."

"Actually, we don't clean-up crime scenes, we investigate them; take the evidence and find the killer. The perps are the ones that try to clean them up." Grissom, not understanding why Sage got the elbow, answered. Sara knew and smiled her thanks to Celeste who nodded back.

Just then, Shelly walked out of the bedroom with Brennan on her shoulders. They were both sporting Chicago Cubs jerseys, black pants, and smiles. Shelly, of course, had her ever-present Blue Jays cap.

Shelly stopped at the edge of the TV room and stared at her father in surprise. "You're early." Grissom could only nod as he looked up at his grandson. Brennan, confused at why his mom had stopped walking and who the new people in the room were, slapped his mother's head. "Mama?"

Shelly pulled him down from her shoulders and held him to her side as Grissom stood up and walked over to them. "Dad, this is Brennan." She then turned to Brennan. "Brenn, this is your grandpa."

"Ganp." Brennan smiled through his confusion. Grissom just stood there in amazement, watching his grandson bounce in his daughter's arms. After a minute, he smiled down at the boy and stretched his arms out. Brennan didn't hesitate and in the next second, Grissom was holding his one year old, brown haired, blue eyed little Grandson.

"Oh my god." Grissom smiled. "You're so cool." He said in awe.

Sara laughed at the absurdity of the scene in front of her and only thanked god for the privilege to be witness to it.

Grissom brought Brennan back to the couch and retook his seat next to Sara. He placed the boy so that he was standing and bouncing on his thighs. Grissom smiled. "Hi."

"_Hi."_ The boy signed and spoke. Grissom's jaw dropped and yet again he was staring at his grandson in awe.

"Like I told you, Debbie and I have been teaching him to sign. He picks it up quicker then actually speak." Shelly told him. Grissom nodded and composed himself. He set the boy so he was sitting in his lap so that he had his hands free. _"Hi."_ He signed back making the boy grin from ear to ear.

Sara reached out for Brennan's hand and squeezed it. That got his attention and he signed hi to her as well, which Sara answered back the same. "I'm Sara." She told him. He just nodded and reached out to play with Grissom's beard.

"I'll get you something to drink." Shelly walked into the kitchen and when she returned, she saw Grissom sitting cross-legged on the floor across from Brennan who was showing him his block castle. They sat and played that way for an hour as the others talked. Suddenly, Brennan stood up and walked on slightly unsteady legs to Grissom. "Fud."

"Fud?"

"Fud." The boy nodded happily. Grissom looked to Shelly for help. "He means food."

"Ahhh," Grissom turned back to Brennan, smiled, then nodded, "Food." Brennan nodded and squealed as Grissom picked him up in a fast swoosh and plopped him down at his side. "What do you want?"

"App sooz."

Again Grissom looked back to Shelly for help but before she said anything, he turned back to Brennan. "Apple sauce?" The boy nodded and as Grissom turned toward the kitchen, he looked to Shelly and Sara still on the couch. "I'll understand him soon enough." He smiled and disappeared around the corner.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N2:** Yay, I did fluffiness well! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Much appreciated. **odeepblue**, I hope you enjoyed the romance that you asked for. smiles_

_I said a couple chapters ago that that one would be my second to last but I guess I was wrong. That's what happens when you're writing as you go. This one will probably be my second last or third to last. I was going to type more but noticed it was already at 6,000+ words so I thought I'd leave you with a nice scene of Griss with his grandson._

_**A/N3**: One last thing before we go … I've already got a sequel to this story in my head so let me know if you guys would like me to write it as a sequel or a stand-alone. There will actually be a case plot as well as fluff plot in that one so those of you who like case stories would enjoy it more, or so I hope._


	13. The Boy

_**A/N:** In this chapter, the gang will be going somewhere that I have never been but would love to go. In saying this, I apologize if anything I describe about the place is wrong. I'm only writing it from pictures and descriptions I've read from the website._

_I apologize for any error or mistakes. This chapter was not edited a third time like most of the other chapters because it's too late at night. I hope you enjoy it anyway._

**Chapter 12 – The Boy**

**4:14pm Thursday**

Brennan had gone down for a nap at 1 and since then, the adults had sat around the TV room talking. Grissom had learned the heartbreaking story of why Celeste and Sara's meeting was so emotional and why Sara had thanked her.

"Celeste was the one that helped Shelly after what Rhory did to her. She stayed with her that night." Sara informed him to which he just looked over to Celeste with the deepest, most gratitude filled baby blues that nearly sent Celeste crying. To see that someone else cared so much for her friend was heartbreaking, in a good way.

Everything was going fine until Shelly excused herself to have a cigarette.

"You never smoked in Vegas." Grissom had stated angrily before shooting daggers in the direction of Sage and Celeste.

"Father," Shelly said patronizingly, "I'm old enough to have a smoke every now and then."

"No you're not. I'm sure you had one of these two go in and buy for you. You guys do realize it's illegal to do that right?"

"Dad, please. I bought it myself with my fake ID. Do you really want to report me? Come on, you're out of your jurisdiction and this is keeping me sane. Would you rather me do this or drink my heart away? Besides, I don't smoke in front or around Brenn at all." Shelly had a point, even though Grissom didn't agree one iota. Nothing he could do however, and realizing this, Grissom sat back on the couch and brooded.

It wasn't long before Grissom came out of brooding and paid attention again to the stories, only the good ones were told, of Shelly's past. Now, at 4:20 in the afternoon, Grissom couldn't wait to have Brennan awake again. For someone who didn't have much of anything to do with babies, unless they were already dead, he was surprised that he did so well with Brennan. _I guess it's 'cause he's family,_ Grissom thought with a smile.

He jumped off the couch at the first whimper that came from the bedroom.

"Hey lil' buddy." He greeted softly as he walked into the room. "Let's go play some more before dinner." Grissom was a little disappointed at first when all the sleepy baby did was curl up into his chest. His disappointment was short lived however when he began to enjoy thewarmth of the baby boy in his arms.

He walked back to the TV room and sat down in the toy corner with him. Shelly brought him some more applesauce, which Grissom was beginning to see was one of the only things they could afford, and he began feeding him. It wasn't long before the boy was up and playing with Grissom, who was just as excited and boyish as Brennan.

"I guess he never gets to be like this at home." Shelly leaned in and whispered to Sara. She just shook her head and enjoyed watching Grissom, her new long awaited, but well worth it, lover, playing with his grandson.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**10:31pm**

Grissom and Sara had dropped Shelly off at the hospital after they had finished dinner with Celeste, Sage, and Brennan at the local family restaurant. Sage had taken Brennan back to their townhouse to be put to bed while Grissom and Sara said goodnight to Shelly and had went back to their hotel room; only after Shelly told them to take her luggage and cancel her room since she wouldn't be there at all. "Waste of money, sorry." She had apologized.

She had been standing outside Debbie's hospital room watching her sleep for a half an hour. It wasn't until Debbie started waking up that the doctor walked by and noticed Shelly.

"She is doing much, much better tonight." The doctor told her. "She passed the tests and now has the oxygen mask off. Her breathing is fine even though it sounds as if she is wheezing; that's just from the pain in her ribs. She's fine other then that. All injuries are healing well and she should be allowed to leave tomorrow afternoon if she passes her neurology exam tomorrow morning and if she has someone to help her."

Shelly smiled at the doctor and walked into the room. "Hey Deb, how's it going?"

"Great! Did you talk to Doctor Fine-Ass out there? Says I should be out of here tomorrow afternoon, which means I should be able to make Brennan's birthday party." Debbie smiled bright.

"Uhhh, Deb, there won't be a birthday party. We don't have anything set up. We were just planning a small cake and that's it. Can't really afford anything more."

"Pish-posh. From the little bit I heard from Celeste, your daddy got money. Use him."

"Debbie! I am not going to …" Shelly shook her head and laughed lightly. "You are a piece of work. Look, I didn't go looking for my dad for money and you know that. I went looking for him to find out about me and that's it. It just so happens that, so far, things are working out well and I'm not only learning about me, my dad, and what really happened but I'm also learning about family… biological family." She reiterated after seeing Debbie's hurt expression. "You'll always be family Deb and you know that."

Debbie smiled and nodded, "I know. Now, how is my boy doing?"

"He's attaching very much to his grandfather." Shelly smiled. "I'm glad he is." She looked down at her feet and sighed before looking back up into Debbie's concerned eyes.

"What's wrong sweetheart?"

"It's just … I want to get to know my dad more … my family more. His mother, my grandmother is still alive and I'm going to go see her after we leave here. That leads me to the question that I really don't want to have to ask you."

"You're relieved."

"Huh?"

"I said you're relieved of duty. Look Shelly, I'm happy that you and Deryck took that vow because it shows how dedicated to family you two are. But I don't want you to miss out on your true family because of this stupid thing."

"It's not stupid. If I had seen Rhory there…"

"Shut up." Debbie said forcefully. "There will be no guilting around me."

Shelly chuckled. "Deb, guilting isn't even a word…"

"Shut up dear, you know what I'm tellin' you and you better listen."

"Yes ma'am."

"Like I was sayin', you are too important to me to see you miss this chance. None of the people I met and grew up around ever got a second chance with their families. You know I was a system child too. That's where I met my husband Roberto. Mind you, at the time I had no clue what kind of shit he was dragging me into with all those gangs and other shit but … I digress." Debbie took a painful breath and kept going.

"You need to move to Vegas and be with your father. Brennan is all yours; all you have to do is have five thousand dollars saved in your account, a good future plan, proof that you're home is safe with no substances that could be used and abused and then you just need to sign the papers and you can take him."

Shelly smiled. "That easy huh?"

"Oh no. It's not easy. You will have social workers poking into your privacy for at least the first few months of you taking him back. They know your past with gangs, Shelly, and they will make sure they have it in your file in Las Vegas. Going to school, saving money, having a part-time job, having a bright and supportive home will help you to get them off your back but it's going to be tough."

"It's very much worth it."

"And Sara and I'll be helping so it won't be that tough." Grissom said from the doorway, surprising both occupants in the room.

"What are you doing here?" Shelly asked.

"I'm here to bring you back to Sage's. I have your luggage in the trunk of the car."

"Why? And where is Sara?"

"Because I don't want you walking or taking a cab past 11 at night, plus I have your luggage. And Sara is back at the hotel room waiting for me."

Shelly nodded and looked back at Debbie, who she realized was staring intently at her father. Shelly smiled at the protectiveness of her long time friend. "Debbie, this is my father, Gil Grissom. Dad, this is Debbie, the woman who has been taking great care of Brennan."

"And you." Debbie pointed out, to which Shelly rolled her eyes while smiling.

Grissom reached out his left hand and shook Debbie's non-bandaged one. "Thank you very much for taking care of Shelly these past years. Sara and I are very grateful."

"Thank Sara for me for watchin' my lil' girl's back in your neck of the woods." Debbie was still unsure of him. She was on the hospital when Shelly met Grissom and therefore was not told the true story. She only knew what Shelly had told her about what her mother had told her; which was nothing good. Grissom understood and stepped back.

"Deb, my mother lied to me a lot. Everything I told you about my father was wrong, my mother was wrong. She was the one that was caught cheating right before my dad was going to propose." Grissom cringed. "He never even knew about me." Debbie looked up with sympathetic but still weary eyes.

"He is a good man Deb. Better then any man we've ever met. You know how you trust Sara?" Shelly tried changing tactics.

Debbie just nodded, keeping her eyes on Grissom.

"Well, she and my dad are dating now. If you trust her to take care of me then you can trust that she has good judgment right?" There was a little spark in Debbie's eyes but not much. "Okay, how about this… he is the shift supervisor of the crime lab. He is an entomologist, a doctor in science and is on the good side of the law."

Her eyes were warming to him but still very weary.

"Okay, how about … do you trust me?" That got Debbie's attention. "If you trust me then you can trust that I have good judgment. In fact, you know I do. So … you can trust him since I trust him." Debbie looked back to Grissom, who was smiling shyly under her gaze. _This is like meeting the mother for the first time,_ Grissom thought uncertainly. _How much will it take for her to trust me with _my_ own daughter?_

"But you know how many men have hurt you? How many men you have let close enough only to piss on your innocence." Shelly glared at her. She had not disclosed the other three men who had raped her to her father yet and wasn't planning on it any time soon; but soon was the answer if she couldn't get Debbie to shut up.

"Look Deb, he's a good man and you can trust him. I do." She said firmly. Debbie nodded, still a little unsure but willing to give him a chance.

Grissom smiled back uncomfortably. "Shelly, Sara is waiting for me and I'd really like to get some sleep so that I'm refreshed for running after Brennan tomorrow."

"Why would you be running after Brennan tomorrow?"

"Because I'm taking you, him and your friends to Chicago's Navy Pier for Brennan's birthday. I read all about their children's museum and I really think that he would love it there." Shelly could see the youthful twinkle in Grissom's eyes.

She turned to Debbie and stage-whispered, "I think it's more for someone else." Which made Debbie smile and Grissom snort.

"Yeah, I'm hoping to enjoy it too but he seems like a very smart kid and I think he would enjoy it immensely. They have an Inventing Lab, a Dinosaur Expedition, an Artabounds Gallery, a Play Maze, a Bug Backyard, and a bunch of other stuff." When Grissom noticed the two women looking at him funny, he blushed and settled down. "Shelly, I'll meet you at the car. Debbie, it was very nice meeting you." And with that, he left the room but wasn't down the hall four steps before hearing the women laughing at him. He smiled and continued on.

"He seems very nice."

"He is Debbie, he is. I'll see you tomorrow. When we get back from the Pier, we'll swing by here and pick you up. Hopefully by then you're released."

"Trust me, if they don't release me as soon as my test comes back good, I'll shoot every one of them and break my way out."

Shelly laughed and leaned down to kiss Debbie's forehead. "Good night Deb. Love you."

"Love you too kid."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shelly leaned over and kissed a surprised Grissom on the cheek. "Thank you for the ride dad, although it was unnecessary."

"It's no problem and yes, it was very necessary. I know what goes on after hours and I don't want anything…"

"Trust me, I know what goes on after hours too. Thank you again dad. Love you."

"Love you too baby-girl."

Shelly stepped out and smiled before walking with her luggage up to the door. She opened it, turned around and locked it, gave her friends a smile as she walked to the bedroom, dropped her luggage on the floor, closed the door, and laid down on the bed, pulling a sleeping Brennan onto her chest. She looked over to the clock, whispered, "Ten minutes until you're one year old," kissed the top of his head and whispered, "Good night my gorgeous Baby B." With the comfort of life and her son in her arms, her insomnia was all but forgotten as she fell into peaceful slumber.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**8:56am Friday, March 3rd**

For the second morning in a row, Grissom was awoken by the unwelcome chirp of his cell phone. "Grissom." His voice was rough with sleep.

"_Ake up."_

"What?"

"_Ake Ganp."_

Grissom smiled bright. "Good morning Brennan."

"_Onin'. Ake?"_

"Yes, I'm awake. What are you doing?" Grissom smiled into the phone as he listened to Brennan babble incoherently. He jumped slightly when the still unfamiliar feeling of Sara's arm slid across his chest before she platted a kiss on his shoulder. His smile reached new lengths across his face as he leaned down to give Sara a gentle kiss.

He watched as she left for the washroom, starting the shower. He turned his attention back to the phone. "Really?" Brennan continued with another string of nonsense.

"_Dad?"_

"Morning Shelly. How's the morning going?" He asked when she took the phone from Brennan.

"_As you can hear, the boy is awake and looking for you. He's never attached this quickly to anyone before. He's normally shy and quiet but get him near you and watch out."_ Shelly laughed as she picked up the toy she nearly tripped over.

Grissom joined in the laugher, his heart feeling even lighter then it did two minutes ago. "That's a great thing because I think I'm attached to him as well. I'm just going to jump into the shower now so we'll be over there in probably an hour."

"_Bye dad and say hi to Sara for me."_

"Will do. Bye." Grissom jumped out of the bed faster then he had ever before and raced into the washroom to see a naked, and very sexy Sara, waiting in the tub. She gave him another one of her 'come hither' looks and he melted his way into the shower with her. _Too much more of this and they'll be phoning 911 'cause I'll behaving a heart attack._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**10:12am**

Grissom and Sara stepped into the townhouse. As they walked into the TV room where the others were, Grissom had to drop the shopping bag he was holding when Brennan came racing over to him and practically jumped into his arms.

"I didn't think one year olds could walk so fast." He said to Shelly, who shrugged as Sage informed him,

"This kid isn't a normal kid. He's got like super powers and shit." Shelly kicked him hard in the shin. "Sorry."

"How many times do I have to tell you? No swearing in front of the boy." Shelly kicked him again as she walked past him and into the kitchen to grab drinks for Grissom and Sara.

Grissom sat down by the toy corner again with Brennan in his lap. "Sara, could you pass me the bag?" Sara did and sat down beside them to watch. Shelly brought their drinks out, handing Sara hers and placing Grissom's on the table, then sat down with the others to watch.

Grissom handed Brennan the wrapped gift and smiled when Brennan tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrow in confusion. "He doesn't get much gifts. We can't really afford to buy any for him so he doesn't know what that is."

Grissom nodded sadly and made a vow to himself, _when we get to Vegas, this kid is going to be very spoiled._ He grabbed one corner of the wrapped box and started pulling gently at it. Brennan, taking the hint, started doing the same thing to the other corner. After one large rip, Brennan got the hang of it and very much enjoyed unwrapping his present.

"Bug! Bug!" He yelled excitedly when Grissom pulled the large, stuffed dragonfly from the box. "Bug mama, bug!" Shelly laughed.

"Yes babe, that's a bug."

"A dragon fly." Grissom told the boy.

"Fly? Fly!" Brennan jumped out of Grissom's lap and raced, as fast as his learning legscould take him,around the small TV room, holding his new stuffed animal over his head. "Fly mama!" They all laughed again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**2:23pm**

After Grissom had taken everyone out for brunch, they had headed straight to the Pier. After an hour and a half of walking around and going on rides, they were just now heading into the Children's Museum. They walked in in pairs, Celeste and Sage holding hands in the back, Sara and Shelly talking in the middle, and Grissom holding Brennan in his arms leading the way; Brennan and Grissom had been nearly inseparable since they entered the townhouse that morning.

They had walked through the inventory lab and the dinosaur exhibit, the last of which scared the crap out of Brennan … literally. He was fine up until Grissom walked with him up to a dinosaur sculpture. Overwhelmed with the crying child, Grissom had quickly handed the boy off to Shelly. Once the boy settled down however, Grissom picked up right where he left off and carried Brennan into the Atrabounds Gallery.

There, Grissom was able to show off his love of art, albeit it was all children's paintings. He didn't care as he talked to Brennan about different forms of art and colors.

During all the exhibits, Sara had been observing intensely as she walked and talked with Sage, Celeste and Shelly. She didn't care about the fact that it seemed Grissom was ignoring her because it wasn't just her. He was practically ignoring everyone but Brennan; which, for some reason, only made her love him more. It gave her a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. _I've never really thought of having children before but now…_

An hour later, they had finally reached the exhibit that Grissom had been waiting for, and apparently so had Brennan; the 'Bug Backyard.' As soon as the two walked in they had smiles on their faces. Grissom, with Brennan squirming in his arms, turned back to Sara with a boyish grin and twinkle in his eye that she hadn't seen before. Not even the bugs at a crime scene could make him this giddy. _It's got to be something to do with the boy in his arms and the girl standing beside me,_ she thought. She smiled back at him and he took that as a sign to go ahead so, that he did.

He placed Brennan on the ground and held his hand as Brennan, as fast as his small, learning legs could take him, took off toward the nearest flying bug.

Shelly stood back and watched this with unwanted tears. When she felt Sage wrap his arm around her shoulders she sighed, "Damn it." She smiled up at him then to Celeste and Sara. "I never though I'd find him you know? Now, look at him. He's out there running around and smiling with my son, his grandson. It's just a lot to handle you know?" She sniffled as Sage pulled her into a brotherly hug.

"Of course it is. It's a huge change of pace to go from a group of friends who love you to a family that loves you just as much. It's going to be difficult Shells, but awesome, trust me." Shelly nodded and gave him a squeeze before letting go and walking towards Grissom and Brennan.

"I've never seen Grissom like this before." Sara, in awe, told the two still with her. "He's always happy to see bugs at a scene but never giddy over it."

"He gets happy bout going to scenes?"

Sara laughed but grew serious. "Nobody is ever happy to have to go to a scene." She lightened up again. "But to have bugs at a scene makes it a little better for him. I don't know what it is about bugs that gets him so excited. They're just creepy lil' crawlies in my eyes."

The other two shrugged and followed Sara as they walked toward the other three, happily playing with a mechanical, oversized butterfly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**6:32pm**

By 4:00 Brennan had started getting cranky, since he skipped his normal naptime, so Sage and Celeste headed back to the townhouse to put him down while Grissom, Sara, and Shelly drove to the hospital to pick up Debbie.

When they walked in, they heard Debbie yelling from her room, "It's about god damn time you let me go. I'm perfectly damn fine you bunch of buzzards. Let me leave."

Shelly walked in and she instantly brightened. "Shelly! I'm leaving!"

"I know!" Shelly stage yelled. She walked over to Debbie and bent down to give her an awkward hug since the wheelchair was in the way.

"God damn contraption is going to be the death of me. Did you know that I have to have this stupid piece of…"

"Debbie," Shelly interrupted her rant which she knew could go on for hours. "I'd like you to meet someone." Sara walked in front of the wheelchair and Debbie instantly recognized her from the picture Shelly sent over the cell phones.

"Oh my sweet Jesus." Debbie reached out her arms and Sara was in them in a heartbeat. "Thank you so much for takin' care of my baby girl."

"It wasn't a problem. I enjoy having her around." Sara stepped out of the embrace and smiled, "I'd like to thank you though, for everything you helped her with." Debbie nodded solemnly and finally noticed Grissom standing by the door. She glared at him for a second before relaxing slightly.

"Mr. Grissom."

"Please, just Gil."

"All right, Just Gil." She turned her attention to Shelly. "How is my baby doing?"

Shelly smiled. "He's at Sage's sleeping now but he's had a great birthday so far. Dad took us all out to the Pier and Brenn absolutely loved the bug garden there."

"Great, great. Now, I signed my damn papers so get me the hell out of here so I can see him."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They had swung by the old neighbor lady's house to pick up Quinston and Lukas for dinner. The moment they saw each, Shelly and the boys raced toward each other, catching in a bear hug that could sever a person's spine. When they pulled away, all three had tears swimming in their eyes. "I've missed you boys so much." She kissed Lukas on the top of his head, but knew not to do the same to Quinston since he was 'too old'.

"We've missed you too." Quinston spoke for both.

Grissom stood leaning against the car, with Sara leaning into his side, and noticed with a hint of concern that Lukas, although showing emotions, was as silent as a burning candle. Sara noticed this too and leaned into him more to whisper, "If he keeps quiet like that for too long then he may explode one day. From what Shelly told me, he's never really been one for talking or showing emotions except when it came to her." Grissom nodded and watched the reunion.

Shelly leaned down to Lukas' height, all 4'2" of it. "How's it going?" Lukas just smiled and gave her a hug. "You feeling good?" He nodded. "You better start talking before I tickle you to death and my dad has to arrest me for it." Lukas looked slightly alarmed as Shelly tackled him to the grass and he laughed as she started tickling him. His nine-year-old body writhed on the ground, shaking with tears of laughter.

Shelly stood up out of breath. "I really shouldn't have bought that pack of smokes." She mumbled.

Grissom heard and yelled, "Duh!"

Shelly just shook her head and picked the still laughing Lukas from the ground. She turned around to see Quinston hugging his mother fiercely, both with tears in their eyes; tears of joy that she was still alive and tears of mourning for the brother and son that they both lost. Shelly gave them a moment to gather themselves and then yelled happily, "Let's go eat!"

They had arrived at the townhouse to a yelling Brennan, "Ganp! Mama! Ser!" So Grissom swept him up into his arms and declared, "It's food time. Celeste, Sage, let's go. I'm buying." Now they stood just inside the restaurant with Brennan, of course, circled in Grissom's arms. They had been seated with Brennan, of course, sitting beside Grissom.

It had been an interesting dinner with many different conversations going at once. Debbie had chosen to sit beside Grissom to get to know him better. Grissom must have been doing something right because Debbie was near singing his praises when their dinner was done.

"Roberto, the only reason I stayed with that loof after the shit," she ignored Shelly's glare, "he did was because under that stupid 'gang exterior' he was a very well put together man. The stuff he did though, the man should have been in jail long before he was killed. The things you do, your job, very noble."

"Thank you Mrs. Darwin." Grissom said softly, slightly taken aback by her 180-degree turn about since the hospital.

"It's Debbie, Gil, and it's nothing to be humble about. It's awesome how you catch the men and women who are stupid enough to break the law... idiots." She mumbled. Sara smiled as Grissom blushed from the attention and gripped his hand across the table. He smiled back and turned to Debbie.

"It's our pleasure to protect and serve." He shrugged and quickly looked over to Brennan when he threw his spoon across the table.

Brennan looked at the adults and smiled. "Uh oh."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**9:32pm**

They arrived back at Sage's townhouse in time for Brennan to get cranky again. Shelly was about to put him to bed when Grissom stopped her. "I want to do it." The pleading in his eyes stopped her immediately.

Grissom picked up Brennan and his nighttime bottle and walked into the room. He sat on the edge of the bed and smiled down at the already half sleeping child in his arms as he sucked on his bottle. "Do you know how stupid I've been my entire life? At least my adult life?" He whispered to the boy who just kept sucking away. "I've been a jerk to too many people. When we get back to Vegas I'm going to do a little rearranging in my life. Shelly and you first, then Sara, then the rest of the gang." He leaned down and kissed Brennan's head.

"I've already phoned my real estate agent who helped me sell my last home, what, fifteen years ago. God, that was a while ago. Just how old am I?" He shook his head and looked back down to the boy, whispering again, "She's looking for a house for us. It's going to be our home Brenn. It's going to be big and nice so that you have room to grow. I want room for my kid too.

Up until I met you, the thought of having kids scared me; just look at your mother. I ruined that and I never even met her before. Thankfully now though, everything is looking good. But you, you're precious. Now, with Sara in my future, I'm hoping for another. I can't believe I just admitted that, even just to you." He shook his head again and looked down at the now deep sleeping boy, his bottle falling from his grasp. "You won't have to worry about losing your mommy or money or anything like that again. We'll all be there and with the huge chunk in my savings, the only worrying you'll have is over which girl to ask to the dance in high school."

As Grissom took the bottle from him and laid him down gently on the bed, Sara wiped at the tears forming in her eyes as she stood just outside the bedroom door. "Oh Griss," she whispered, "I've never been more sure about anything."

When he stepped out of the room, Sara wrapped him in her arms and whispered, "I love you." He whispered the sentiment back and held her tight to him.

"You heard me?" She nodded her head. "I'm going to ask Shelly to move in with me and hopefully there are some papers we can sign to get Brennan to come back to Vegas with us very soon."

"Shelly was already telling me Debbie gave her a list of things she needed to do and then B was all hers."

"I overheard the ending of that conversation I think." Grissom replied while still holding Sara tight to his body. "We'll just have to make sure that her list is complete in the very close future." Sara nodded.

Grissom took in a shaky breath and reached his hand out to gently caress Sara's cheek. "So you heard me in there?" She nodded. "Every last thing I said?" She nodded again, tears pooling in her eyes. "Then, this may seem fast but … I want you Sara. I want you with me, with Shelly, with Brennan. I want it all … I'm very selfish." Sara laughed. He leaned in and placed the most loving kiss on her lips that she had ever felt. "Sara Marie Sidle, would you want to move in with Shelly and me when we find a house big enough?"

Sara thought about it a second,_ …too soon? … _"Of course I would love to." Grissom smiled and kissed her again before pulling her into a crushing hug.

"Did I miss something?" Shelly asked from the entrance to the hall.

"Yep, Sara is moving in with us."

"Us?" Shelly asked wearily.

"Yes," Grissom nodded emphatically. "I would love it if you stayed with me Shelly. And when you can, we'll bring Brennan and he'll live with us too."

"You actually want me to move to Vegas? Move in with you?" She asked still disbelieving.

Grissom released Sara from his arms and walked over to Shelly, wrapping her in a hug. "Of course. You're my kid … my family, and I wouldn't want anything more in this world then to have you, Brennan, and Sara … my family, living under the same roof as me."

Sara piped up from behind him, "Who are you and what have you done with the enigmatic and anti-person Gil Grissom from Las Vegas?"

Grissom just smirked, grabbed Sara's hand, kissed Shelly on the cheek goodnight, and walked to the door with Sara in tow.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**8:54am Saturday**

At least he was getting used to it. "Grissom."

"_Ake?"_

"Yes, I'm awake Brennan."

"_Ganp ake?"_

"Yes, grandpa's awake." _Not really but the boy won't know the difference._

"_Ser ake?"_

Brennan was bugging him about Sara, now he knew Shelly was close by. "Is mommy standing behind you?" He asked in a childish tone in which Brennan replied with a bunch of nonsense.

Sara was jerked awake by Grissom's laughter. She hit him in the ribs, making him oomph as she scowled playfully. 'You woke me up.' She mouthed. Grissom shrugged and took another elbow before finally finding peace and safety in the 'living area' of their hotel room.

"Yes Brennan." He encouraged as he got breakfast ready for him and Sara. He was getting used to waking up with someone, whether curled up beside him or talking nonsense to him on his phone, and he found it surprising that he enjoyed it.

"Of course … Really? … No way! … Exciting … A bug? Really?" Grissom was having a ball talking to Brennan on the phone, so much so that he forgot about the toasts in the toaster. Sara came rushing out when she smelt something burning. She popped the very chard bread out of the toaster and scolded Grissom,

"Why weren't you paying attention? You could have lit the place on fire Gil!" Grissom looked down sheepishly but forgot about Sara standing there a second later when Brennan made a funny noise, presumably falling down and oomphing much the way his grandfather did that morning, and laughed. He took his well-deserved slap over the back of his head and watched as Sara walked back into the bedroom to get dressed. Grissom looked down at himself and noticed only his boxers were on so he too walked into the room to get changed.

"_Dad?"_

"Shelly, hey, I was having fun listening to Brennan."

_"Everyone does. Listen, I know tonight we have a plane to catch to go to LA so we need to do something very important this morning."_

"Like what?"

_"My last duty as Deryck's keeper. I need you to come pick us up, we'll use Sage's van since there's more room, and you need to take us to Debbie's house. She'll be waiting for us."_

"Sure thing. We'll be there very soon."

_"I love you daddy."_

Grissom's heart nearly broke at the strain and pain that was stretching Shelly's voice as she fought not to cry. "I love you too baby-girl." Grissom closed his eyes before getting up and finishing packing his bags quickly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**11:34am**

When they arrived at Debbie's house, they saw the small family, Deb, Quinston, and Lukas all waiting for them in the doorway. Debbie smiled at Shelly before Quinston wheeled her back through the house and into the backyard. Lukas jumped into Shelly's arms, his small frame not too heavy for her, and they walked to the backyard as well. Sage and Celeste followed with Grissom, holding Sara's hand with one hand and Brennan in his other arm followed through the house.

The backyard, although it was sunny out, had four candles placed around an already dug up hole near the back fence. There was a glass of alcohol, _looks like Whisky_, Grissom thought, sitting beside the hole on a table.

Shelly pulled out the hat that Grissom had been aloud to sign out of evidence for her. She placed it next to the glass on the table and knelt in front of Debbie. She clasped Deb's hands in hers, their tears not making a sound as they traveled down their cheeks and dropping to the dirt below.

"I know you said that I was released from duty but before I can take that release, I needed to do this for you, for Deryck, for all of us that knew D." Shelly took in a ragged breath and exhaled slowly. "He was a great kid. Never into any trouble, always looking after his family, for his friends, for the ones he cared about and he thought had potential even through their rough patches."

Debbie released one of Shelly's hands and placed her palm against the right side of Shelly's face. "I know you also said that I should not feel guilty for his death but if I had…" Debbie went to interrupt her but Shelly placed her hand over Deb's mouth. "If I had only seen Rhory standing there by that tree then this would not have happened. You would still have your oldest boy and you," She looked to Quinston, "would still have your big brother." Quinston knelt down beside Shelly and wrapped his arms around her neck.

Grissom and Sara exchanged glances and Grissom noticed the tears in her eyes. He reached up with his free hand, the other still holding Brennan, and wiped the tears from her eyes. He leaned in and planted a supported kiss on her lips before straightening and watching the 'ceremony' in front of him.

"I don't think blame you Shelly."

"But I blame myself Deb. And that blame is not going to go away. I can't do anything to bring him back and it kills me to think about how you have to cope without him. It literally kills me." Shelly whispered. She placed her head in Deb's lap, mindful of her fractured leg, and they all stood in silence for a minute.

Shelly stood back up and walked back to the table. She picked up Deryck's hat and brought it to Deb. Debbie brought it up to her nose and sniffed, still smelling her son. She smiled as she closed her eyes and pictured her first-born baby standing and smiling in front of her. When she opened her eyes, she saw the smiling face of Shelly, which comforted her for reasons unknown.

Shelly then brought the hat over to Quinston, who brought it to his nose and smelt his older brother standing in front of him. "God I'm going to miss you bro." He whispered hoarsely. Shelly gave him a hug and took the hat back. She stood over it's 'grave' and brought it to her own nose.

She looked up and smiled. "You were like my brother D. I loved you and nothing will ever change that. You know I will do everything in my power for justice against Rhory, not for me but for all the other girls he violated and for most importantly, you. Too soon babe … too soon." She mumbled before gently placing the hat in the hole. She picked up the glass of whisky and brought it over to Debbie, who took a sip. She then brought it to Sage and Celeste who also took sips. She walked over to Grissom and Sara, who respectfully took their sips.

She stood in front of Quinston and looked him down, glass still in her hands. "It's your job now." She took a small sip, cringing at the taste, and passed the glass to Quinston. He walked it to the hole and brought it to his lips. With the glass just barely touching his lips, he mumbled, "I love you bro," and took his small sip. He too cringed at the taste before holding the glass above the 'grave'.

"Your final toast bro. I loved you in life, I love you in death." He poured the tiny bit left in the glass onto the hat and kicked the dirt, covering it up just a little. Shelly walked over and kicked a bit of dirt as well before gathering Quinston into her arms. Lukas came over nonchalantly, thinking it was no big deal, and kicked the rest of the dirt onto the hat playfully.

Everyone looked on with a smile. They all saw it, the comparison, from wicked death, to playful youth. It was a stark reminder of what life had to offer and they all vowed silently to themselves then that they would do everything in their power to live life to the fullest.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**2:45pm**

Debbie and Shelly were standing by the van saying their goodbyes. "You better come back soon."

"I promise. I'll try to come back so often that you'll be begging me to stay away." Shelly smiled.

"Never happen." Debbie leaned as far out of the chair as she could and pulled Shelly into her arms. "I'm going to miss you kid … again."

Shelly chuckled. "I'm going to miss you too."

"Did you at least say goodbye to the boys?"

"Of course I did." Shelly said as she pulled away reluctantly. She looked over to the house and saw Grissom saying goodbye to Brennan. "I'm going to miss him so much."

"But you'll be taking him back to Vegas in no time and in the mean time, you know he's safe with me and the boys." Shelly nodded and they continued watching as Grissom held Brennan very close to his chest. Brennan's arms were wrapped around his neck as tight as a little one year old's could be. When he finally pulled Brennan back enough to looked into the boys eyes, he smiled bright and kissed him gently on the forehead. Grissom and Sara then walked towards the other two. Grissom handed Brennan off to Shelly, who walked a distance away, as Sara said goodbye to Deb.

"I can't say how grateful Gil and I are for you taking care of Shelly all these years."

Debbie laughed. "Girl, you talk like you're her mother." Sara blushed and looked down smiling. Grissom grabbed her hand.

"She's close enough to it." He stated. "She's great with her and I'm very glad that Shelly found Sara that night." He refused to mention that Shelly was actually a case that night. He chose to keep in his mind that it was just a random encounter; it seemed safer for the guy in jail if he did that.

Shelly kissed Brennan's head for the tenth time in ten seconds. "I'm going to miss you so much baby." Brennan held on tight to Shelly's neck, sensing that something was wrong with his mother and she needed his comfort. "This is the last goodbye I'm ever going to say to you because the next time I see you, you're coming back with me. That's not just a promise but a guarantee. Understand?" Brennan smiled at her. She hugged and kissed him one last time before handing him over to Quinston, who gave her a surprising kiss on the cheek before walking back to the house.

Shelly waved goodbye to Debbie as the van drove away from the house and back to Sage's townhouse so that she could pack her things to leave to LA. _One meeting down, one more to go, _she thought. _And this one could be the death of me._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N:** Thank you all very, very much for your great reviews; you are awesome. And thanks for hanging on so long. **I** can't even believe how long this has gotten and I'm the one that is writing it._

_**Next Chapter:** Second to last, for sure this time, with only an epilogue to follow. It's the meeting that Shelly has been dreading, the grandmother. Will Grandma G resent her for being the product of the woman who broke her son's heart? Or will Grandma G be too excited about the fact that her son has a daughter, that she has a granddaughter. And will she go crazy when she finds out … she has a GREAT grandson? (Dun dun dun!) :)_


	14. The Grandmother

_**A/N:** This was most definitely the hardest chapter to write to date. I was having so much trouble writing in the grandma angst while writing in the grandma love. Not to mention trying not to make Shelly seem rude while trying to get her point across. Grrrr. I'll say this straight up … I don't like how this chapter flowed. I feel I rushed it but I couldn't think of what else to add to it so … I hope you enjoy anyway._

**Chapter 13 – The Grandmother**

**8:15pm Saturday Santa Monica, LA**

Jillian Elizabeth Grissom was worrying a hole in her living room carpet waiting impatiently for her son. He had never been one to talk about his personal life, not even in details with his own mother, but his latest email, when he said that he was flying out, it was most definitely different.

He had emailed again, just before five, saying that they would be landing at around 7:40, meaning that they would be by the house around 8:30. _They…_

_My boy and his bloody, no good cryptic writing. Never can he just come out and say what he wants to say, he's always difficult._ She thought. She plopped down into her big comfy chair. _I should be in bed by now. My bedtime is 8; does he not realize this? I guess I shouldn't be complaining …my boy is coming to visit._ She smiled bright.

_It's always about work with him though. This time, he says he's got someone for me to meet and he's bringing them …them? I still don't understand my own child. I hope it's something to do with a woman. I can't stand going to bed terrified about my boy's job instead of thinking about how happy he could be with a girlfriend, or wife, or family._ She sighed.

_It better be a girlfriend. But he only talks about work, never about a woman in his life. So bringing a girlfriend now would seem very fast … wouldn't it?_ She sighed again, more heavily this time and stood up to pace. _He talks about that Catherine lady but … she's not right for my boy. Things he's said, helping her out of stripping, drug use, abusive husband … not someone my boy would choose. Not one I'd choose for him._ She shook her head lightly, taking a sip of her water and then sat down slowly.

_Other then her, the only other woman he's every talked about is Sara. She's the only one he's ever said anything remotely personal about when it came to his feelings, and even that was cryptic; though a mother always knows._ She smirked as she started ticking off the things he'd said. _Met at a seminar, great potential, great mind … even slipped up about her 'beautiful brown eyes'. Boy, did he blush that night at dinner. Yeah, he likes her._ She smiled knowingly and finished the rest of her water.

_But I'm going to sleep if that boy doesn't hurry…_ The lights flashing told her that there was someone at the door.

She got up slowly, all 5'3", 118 LBS of her aging seventy-year-old body was aching. _I need my beauty sleep_. All thoughts of sleep left her mind however when she opened the door and was swept up into a bear hug.

When Grissom placed her back on the floor and planted a welcoming kiss to her temple, she smiled up at him and couldn't help but hug him again. _"I missed you so much."_

Grissom smiled. _"Missed you too."_ He signed back. _"I have someone I want you to meet."_ He reached behind him and grabbed hold of Sara's shaking hand. He squeezed it reassuringly as she stepped beside him. He spoke and signed, "Sara, this is my mother, Jillian. _Mother, this is Sara Sidle."_

Jillian smiled bright and, ignoring Sara's outstretched hand, opened her arms and mauled her with a bear hug; her slight, short frame much more powerful then it looked. "I happy fo' you bote." She told her, her voice muffled from the hearing loss.

Jillian pulled out of the hug with Sara, looked her up and down, smiled at her, then looked back at her son. She became very confused when she saw nothing but apprehension and … _Fear?_ in his eyes. That's when she saw a shoulder pop out a little from between him and the doorway and she remembered his cryptic email. _And I'll be bringing **them** with me to see you._ She looked back up into the eyes of her son.

"_Mom,"_ He signed and spoke, "_There is someone else I want you to meet."_

As Shelly stepped out from behind him, he knew; he saw it in his mother's eyes. No further introductions were needed. _"Her name is Shelly."_ He signed anyway.

They stood in awkward silence as Jillian mulled everything over in her head.

_She's … it's her._ Jillian didn't know whether to cry out in joy for having a granddaughter or cry out in anger for the fact that her granddaughter was a product from _her_. She didn't know whether to love or hate, or whether to despise or cherish. She was so turned around that she felt dizzy. _The hair is hers but the smile, eyes, chin, and nose are his. Her stature, short and powerful, is hers but her stance and posture is all his … all my boy's._ She couldn't decide what to do. Her brain and heart were torn.

She finally decided that her brain was going to shut up and her heart was going to be heard. This was her granddaughter, her son's daughter for bloody sakes. But she just had to ask. _"Are you sure?"_

_"Absolutely. Sara was the one to test her DNA to mine to see if I was her father. She is mine mother."_

"_She is beautiful."_ Jillian signed, her hands were slow as if she was speaking softly.

Grissom nodded. _"She is. She has a great mind and a beautiful accent too."_

Jillian threw her arms up in the air as she dropped into her comfy chair. _"Like her mother."_ Grissom could see the hiss that would have been spoken through her quick, jarred movements.

_"That's not fair mother. She is nothing like her in the end. She is everything like her at the start. Sweet, kind, loving, very smart beyond her years."_

Jillian snorted and looked over at her granddaughter. _"Her mother was a corrupted soul son. She was learning from her mother for what? Twenty years? She is most likely corrupted too."_

"_You are wrong."_ Shelly signed, startling Jillian. _"I watch my mother killed when I was six. She was not corrupted," _Shelly signed slowly since she only just saw that word signed for the first time. _"She was desperate. Drugs, bad things she got in to because to support me. Not corrupted, just desperate."_

"_What about when she hurt my son?"_

Shelly shook her head as it dropped to her chest. She looked back up at her grandmother and signed in defeat, _"I have nothing to do with before I was here. I don't forgive her for that."_

Jillian sat and stared at her for many silent minutes. She wasn't sure whether to accept what she said or dismiss it and still see her as her mother.

"_Because my mother killed when I was young, I went to care. The system. My little sister killed then too. My life crap since that happen. Before then too. System rip me apart."_ Grissom stopped her there, not wanting to mention Brennan just yet.

"_Excuse me,"_ Sara signed, shocking Grissom. _"I spent weeks with,"_ She pointed to Shelly, _"and she more like,"_ She pointed to Grissom, _"then you would think. Never met her mother but she like your son very very much."_

Jillian looked her up and down. She had heard many respectable things about Sara from Grissom but she was still an outsider who didn't live through her son's depression after what Rebekah had done to him. But then she took a look at him and saw the happiness, albeit surrounded with concern at the moment, in his eyes and knew that no matter what happened with Rebekah in the past, he was over it and was happy to see Shelly. _Of course he is,_ she thought.

Jillian stood up again and walked over to stand in front of Shelly. After looking the slight, muscular girl up and down, she took the one step to cover the distance and wrapped her into a hesitant hug. After a moment, she tightened her arms around her and relished in the feeling of her granddaughter in her arms for the first time.

Grissom smiled over the union at Sara. She gave him a smile back and stepped toward him, holding her hand out for him to take. When his mother stepped out of the hug, tears clinging to her eyelids trying their hardest not to fall, he noticed for the first time since Shelly stepped out from behind him, she was smiling … and it was genuine. He stepped forward, pulling Sara along with him, and gathered his mother, Sara, and Shelly into his arms as best he could.

When the girls broke free, Jillian turned to her son and signed, _"You're nuts."_ They laughed as she then turned to Shelly. _"Can I be honest?"_

_"Would not expect anything less."_

Jillian nodded once firmly before signing, _"It will take me a while before I trust you. But, you are my granddaughter and you make him happy. So, I am happy for that."_

Shelly smiled and thanked her for her honesty. Grissom stepped up and signed, _"You are late for bed, mother, and we are tired from flying so, I'll show Sara and Shelly where to go while you go to bed."_

Jillian hugged everyone goodnight and headed for her room.

Sara looked around and said, "Damn, Gil, your mother is seventy, living alone, didn't know she had a grandchild and yet, her house is still big."

"Yeah, money kind of poured in after her art gallery got up and running here in Santa Monica. She bought this house back then, when I was still living here, and hasn't chosen to sell it so far and I really don't think she will. She loves this neighborhood and there's a lady who moved in down the street a couple years ago who is also deaf so it gives her someone to talk to." Grissom lead them up the stairs and down a hallway to a medium sized bedroom. "You can sleep in this guest room Shelly. This was my old bug room when I was in college. Mother never liked them but let me have them anyway." He smiled at the memory, kissed her on the cheek goodnight then led Sara out of the room, closing the door behind them.

He led Sara the rest of the way down the hall to a larger bedroom. It had baseball posters as well as posters of different species of bugs and the Periodic table. Sara smiled, _so cute,_ she thought. "So, you decided not to renovate your room grandpa?" She asked jokingly.

Grissom gave her a mock-scowl and threw her on the bed. "My mother didn't want me to change anything because she still thinks I'm her little boy." He said as he loomed over her. Sara actually giggled at that causing Grissom to smilebefore hestood up. He pushed her back down gently on the bed then walked over to the door, closing and locking it.

He walked back over to the bed and loomed over her again. "You know, there is one thing that has changed since I moved out of this room."

"Hmmm … what's that?" She asked throatily while unbuttoning his shirt.

"I've become very attracted to a certain woman that I only wish I had with me back then." He smiled and ducked his head to kiss her passionately.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**9:00am Sunday**

Jillian had already been up for an hour and a half when Shelly made her way down the stairs and into the living room. She sat down on the sofa and stretched as Jillian came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. She sat down in her chair and sat staring intently at Shelly.

Shelly looked over at Jillian a few minutes later. _Has she even blinked?_ "I know you didn't like my mother for what she did but don't take it out on me." She said clearly so Jillian could read her lips. She was too lazy this morning to try signing.

_"You are right, I do not like your mother, that does not mean I do not like you."_

"Don't do that. Lying to your granddaughter is not right. From the moment you saw me you had hate in your eyes. I would never hurt my father, hell, I grew up thinking he hurt my mother and me."

"_He didn't."_ She signed forcefully.

"I know that now but my mother told me otherwise. So, growing up I believed what she told me." Jillian nodded, smirking as if Shelly had just proven her point about her mother. "But, when I watched her get shot right between the eyes in the middle of our kitchen when I was six," Jillian's eyes went as wide as saucers. "and I had to listen to my little sister, three years old, get raped then killed in the next room while I await my death sentence… that all just told me that no matter what she told me about my father, it didn't matter because life just sucked anyway.

So, I did things by my own rules in foster care and I forgot about my father and family. You won't like this, grandma," She snarled as she got more upset. "but I was in a gang. Not just any gang but one that sold guns. Do you want to know how many people I killed though?" She waited for an answer, although she didn't care yes or no.

Jillian eyed her granddaughter like she was crazy.

She stared Jillian in the eyes and answered, _"None._ Do you want to know why since I was surrounded by opportunities? Because no matter what you think about my mother, she taught me morals and values. True, gangs don't scream morals but I was only there because I lost my family and I was looking for one."

Jillian didn't know what to say. Her own granddaughter was telling her about her life but all Jillian could think of was… _it's got to be a lie._ She knew it wasn't though; _nobody is that good an actor._ She reached out her hand to hold Shelly's but Shelly recoiled.

"Sit there and talk about my mother in disgust all you want but the one thing I know about her was that she is not judgmental, never was. She would never blame a child for the wrong doings of their parents." Shelly took a deep breath to calm down. She didn't want to wake up Grissom or Sara.

"My mother had problems," She said just louder than a whisper. "but if you look deep enough, everyone does. My mother was a rebelling Catholic, you're son's a lapsed one. My mother was desperate for attention, you're deaf." Jillian narrowed her eyes. "Like I said, everyone has problems or issues."

_"But my son's problems and mine never hurt anyone. Your mother's forced my son into depression. He barely ate, barely slept, and barely left his work. He was gone for several years."_

"_But it was not my fault."_

"_I never said it was."_

"_But you hate me."_

"_No."_

_"Then wipe the hate from your eyes."_

Jillian sat there for a few minutes just staring at her granddaughter. She was stunned. _What the heck just happened here?_ She wondered. _I thought I showed her with the hug last night that I was happy, that I forgave her._ That's when she realized her mistake. _I don't have anything to forgive her for._ Jillian covered her face with her hands and hung her head.

Shelly stood up, unsure of her wanted or unwanted presence and knelt down in front of her grandmother. After a shaky breath, she pulled Jillian's hands away from her face and stared unashamedly straight through her eyes. "Do you get it now?" She asked softly.

Jillian nodded and pulled Shelly into a hug. She continued nodding while holding Shelly as close to her as she could without sharing the very skin she wore. Shelly pulled back slightly to grab her cell phone from her pocket. She then pulled back fully so that Jillian could read her lips. "I have someone that I want you to meet." Jillian nodded.

As she was searching for the pictures she wanted, she told Jillian about the person she was going to be seeing. "His name is Brennan Gillian Dulson O'Brien. He only turned one two days ago. You aren't going to like this..." When she found the picture folder she was looking for, she held the phone away from Jillian and once again stared deep into her light blue eyes.

Jillian stared back at Shelly, waiting for what she wasn't supposed to like. _"I handled the news of you, what more do you have?"_ Jillian said with a smirk.

_You have no idea._ Shelly thought. "This here," She showed the first of many pictures of Brennan. "is your great grandson." She waited, and waited, and waited until … _yep, there it is._ Jillian's eyes rose to Shelly's with a mixture of joy and disgust.

"_Like your mother?"_

The question was asked without malice or judgment; Shelly read the curiosity in her eyes. "No, not like my mother. I'm still a virgin in my eyes." Shelly laughed when Jillian's eyebrow flew to her hairline. However, instead of answering, Shelly quickly shut down and just sat staring at her phone.

Jillian nudged her in the shoulder lightly, bringing Shelly's attention to her. _"I understand."_

"What?" Shelly's mind had gone back to the past and she lost track of where their conversation had been going.

"_I understand what you mean. You did not want to. He forced you."_

Shelly nodded and when her grandmother's arms, the feeling of family support that she had never had before, closed around her, she buried her face into her shoulder and cried.

Jillian saw Grissom come to a stand still at the bottom of the stairs but before he could ask what was going on, she glared at him. He got the hint and silently walked to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.

Jillian went back to comforting her granddaughter. Her left hand was going calmly up and down her back while her right hand held the back of her head to her shoulder. Her right hand came up slowly to wipe at her own tears that were silently sliding down her cheeks then went back to her head.

Grissom sat down quietly on the couch and watched the scene unfolding before him. _What the hell happened?_ He thought. _I never knew her to be cruel so what did she do?_ Jillian saw the small accusation in his eyes and quickly glared at him with such force that Grissom had to look down to his cup. After taking a sip, he cleared his throat gently, making his presence known to Shelly.

She looked up and saw her father sitting on the couch so she slowly got up, walked over to him, sat down beside him, and allowing his right arm to wrap around her shoulders as she leaned into him.

To Jillian, it was a scene she'd only ever seen in her dreams; her son showing all the love and comfort he could to her grandchild.

Grissom look over to his mother and asked her with his eyes.

"_She showed me a picture of my great grandson. She told me she is still a virgin and that's when I got it. She then closed off and then cried in my arms."_ Grissom knew the gentle smile on her face was from being able to hold her granddaughter and the concern and worry in her eyes was for the mental state of her.

"She is fine." Grissom mouthed to his mother before turning to his daughter. "Are you feeling better now?" She nodded. "Good. Have you eaten?" She shook her head. "Then how about you go wake up Sara with as much noise as you can, since I've heard that you love doing that so much," He smirked playfully at her. "And then we'll go out for breakfast somewhere." She nodded again and walked to the bathroom to wash her face first.

"_What happened to her Gil?"_ Jillian asked forcefully.

Grissom shrugged. _"I'm not sure about anything other then her life was very rough."_ Jillian stared at him sympathetically when she saw his guilt-ridden eyes. _"I met the man who raped her … your great grandson's father, who is now waiting on death row for murder, two accounts of attempted murder, including a police officer, and using a concealed weapon."_ Jillian couldn't find any words to say.

"_She mentioned gangs."_

Grissom nodded and anger set in his eyes. _"She mentioned it to me too but she's long gone from them now. We are going back to Las Vegas and are going to find a house so that Sara and Shelly can move in. After that, we'll work on getting Brennan with us but that might take a few months."_

Jillian smiled. _"You take good care of her."_

"_Most definitely."_ They both smiled.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Saaaaaaaarraaaaaaa… Saaaararararara." Shelly whispered next to her left ear. Sara shifted slightly and tried to swat Shelly away, to no avail.

"Saaaaaarraaaaa, come on… foooooood." Another swat joined by an annoyed groan. Shelly laughed and sat down on Sara's back. Sara jumped but was pinned to the bed; She was now breathing hard.

"What the fu … SHELLY! Get off me." Shelly just laughed more. "What are you doing?"

"It's ten o'clock and dad said that I should come in here and wake you up really loudly so that we can go to breakfast, which I guess by the time we get anywhere would be classified as brunch."

Sara flipped Shelly to the other side of the bed and sat up. "So you decided to break into the room and throw yourself on me?"

"No, technically I didn't break in." She said casually. She was posed, lying with her head leaning in her right hand. "And really, you never sleep this long so I think it's about time you wake up anyway."

"I guess spending the night in your father's arms does a body good."

Shelly scrunched up her nose and did exactly what Sara had planned; she jumped up from the bed and walked briskly towards the door. "You're just rude."

"Meet you downstairs." Sara yelled in the direction of Shelly's quickly disappearing head.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**12:50pm**

For brunch they decided to go to a small diner that was just a few blocks away from the beach. Grissom remembered going to it when he was a little boy and he wanted to share that with not only Shelly, but Sara as well. He didn't know exactly what Sara wanted from him in their newfound relationship. He was unsure of himself in many ways when it came to women and now Sara understood why, but would she try to change him?

He remembered her saying that she wouldn't change anything about him because she loved him just the way he is but … Rebekah had said the same thing.

Sara noticed Grissom was starting to shut out from the conversation and reached over to grasp his hand under the table. He looked up at her, smiled, and brought her hand to his lips to give it a gentle kiss then placed both hands, still together, on top of the table. _Maybe that will prove to her that I'm serious and nothing about me needs to change._ He thought.

Grissom looked over at his mother and saw her look from their joined hands and back up to his eyes, hers were dancing with mischievous and joy. _Oh shit._ He thought. _I've opened the beast._ From then on Sara and Grissom were captured in the mom attack and Shelly just sat back watching.

_"When do I get another grandchild?… Will I get one?… Are you moving in soon? … How long has this been going on? … Son, why couldn't you have hurried up? … If you had hurried up then my next grandchild wouldn't be so different in age from his or her sister…"_

Grissom groaned as he looked at the clock and noticed how long they had been sitting there. Shelly just looked on and gave him a smug smile. _Sucker…_ Grissom glared at her playfully and shushed Jillian by bringing his hand up near her face to get her attention.

_"Mother, please stop. It is getting annoying. And it is almost time for you to take a nap."_

_"I don't need a nap boy. Just sit there and answer my questions."_

Shelly laughed outright while Grissom blushed. Sara tried to come to his … more like their rescue. _"Jillian, why don't we go back and you rest. We are only here for one more day before we go back to Las Vegas and I'm sure you do not want to spend the whole time in a diner."_

Jillian glared at her harmlessly before relenting. _"Fine, home, rest, then we talk some more."_ Grissom sighed but agreed, paid the bill, and then led the way out to the car.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**5:00pm**

Shelly and Grissom were making their way around the kitchen cooking spaghetti and meatballs, with vegetarian sauce for Sara. Shelly didn't know how to cook but Grissom was helping her rectify that, "They don't teach you anything in those damn places." He stated incredulously, "A person has to know to cook."

Shelly just shrugged off his complaining and paid close attention to everything he was doing. Jillian and Sara were sitting in the dining room, just off the right side of the kitchen, watching over the island separating them. They were making jokes and at one point Grissom even through a couple noodles in their direction when he heard his mother laugh then saw her sign, _"He will make a fine wife one day."_

He came back with, _"A man should know how to cook for their woman."_ and gave Sara a wink she couldn't help but smile from and set back to work teaching Shelly.

They sat around the dining room table, Jillian and Shelly on one side, Grissom and Sara on the other. Grissom learned quickly from his mistake and kept his hand holding to under the table. Lots of questions about Brennan were asked and answered and Grissom was yelled at for not bringing Brennan with them.

_"Grandma, Brennan is in foster care and I have to meet a list to take him home. I do not have that list right now."_

_"So get it."_

_"No, no … I have not met the list right now. I know what I have to do but I have not and it will take time, maybe months."_

Jillian huffed her displeasure but let it go.

It was now almost eight, bedtime for Jillian, but she didn't want to go for once. She wanted to stay up and talk more with her granddaughter. She knew that tomorrow they left back to Vegas and she wouldn't see them again for at least three months, when they move into their new house.

Grissom had received an email from his real estate agent about a beautiful, two story house that held four bedrooms, a den for his home office, two bathrooms, a library, and a pool and shed in the backyard. In the basement were another two rooms, a playroom and "a workout room!" Shelly demanded, as well as a huge storage area in the attic, "Where your bugs will be moving." Sara stated.

The only problem Grissom saw was that the soon-to-be former owners weren't moving out until the end of May. Sara didn't find it a problem; "We can use it as an opportunity to move slowly. This way we can get used to the idea of living with each other instead of rushing it."

Grissom didn't like it, "Once I get my heart set on something I want it done all the way, right away. I'm a passionate man Sara." Sara nodded and she knew from the look in Grissom's eyes that, even with his heart set on it, he understood her need for time.

Jillian finally went up to bed after some protest; her words were lying but her body wasn't and Grissom noticed just how tired she was when she went to get more coffee from the kitchen and her legs wobbled a little. _"Mom, bed now."_ He told her at 8:45.

Sara, Grissom and Shelly stayed up until 4 in the morning talking; they were trying to get their bodies back to their regular sleeping hours. They talked about how they were going to handle not one, but two secrets.

"We can keep the fact that we're related from people for quite a while but if you guys move in together then it's going to be very hard to keep that a secret."

Grissom and Sara glanced at each other. "Well, we can tell the crew, I mean, they would flip if they found out instead of hearing it from us." Grissom nodded.

"For once, I don't care that people know my life." He leaned over and kissed her gently. Shelly whistled low so she didn't wake Grandma G but loud enough to get their attention.

"Not in front of the kid, please." She begged.

"So, when we get back," Grissom started, "We'll get the gang together and let them know about the changes and the fact that Shelly will be staying with us." The other two nodded. "Okay, now what about Brennan? I mean, I want him in Vegas as soon as possible but Shelly … it's completely up to you with how much you want to tell the gang. I know you don't know any of them but Greg, so it might be hard…"

"Don't worry about it Dad. I'm comfortable with it because it's my son, not something to be ashamed of. It's about violence, not sex. Besides, you guys work cases all the time with this sort of stuff so it's not like it's a new concept to them."

Grissom nodded and Sara smiled at her courage. _With everything she's been through, she has an amazing perspective on life._ Sara thought before yawning and heading to bed. Grissom soon followed after saying goodnight, or good morning, as Shelly pointed out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**7:30pm**

Their plane had taken off at 5:30pm, landing at McCarran at 6:35pm. They now sat at the diner across from CSI, awaiting their friends.

The goodbye with Grandma G was an emotional one for Shelly. It was the first time that she was saying goodbye to a family member, with a promise of coming to visit again soon. Sure, she had left Brennan to come to Vegas but that was a sure thing that she would come back to, this wasn't so much. It was the first time she hugged a family member goodbye and the first time she took flight to go somewhere with a loved one left behind. Yeah, it was hard, but she had family with her too, which was also a first._ I'm starting to love firsts._ She thought.

It was emotional for Sara as well. She hadn't had a mother to say goodbye to since the last time she visited her mother in prison in California. That one didn't go so well because of a lot of animosity, both knowing that Sara would never been back. That was when she was seventeen and it was only to tell her mother that she was moving away to go to University and she wouldn't be back. Now, she actually had a mother to say bye to with a promise of returning again soon.

Grissom was just happy to be back in Vegas, not that he didn't love his mother or enjoyed spending the time with Sara and Shelly, but a week away from work really ate away at him. As soon as he stepped off the plane and back onto Las Vegas territory, his first thought was, all _that damn paperwork towering on my desk is going to take forever. Maybe I can pawn some off on Catherine._ He shook the thought from his head knowing she wouldn't take it.

When Catherine and Warrick were the first to walk into the diner, the three already at the table tensed; now was the time to get into character. Nick was the next to arrive followed shortly after by Jim then Greg, who automatically took the seat next to Shelly.

They were all chatting about the cases that Sara and Grissom had missed over the week until Greg arrived. When he did, Sara and Grissom shut down, only now feeling the full force of barring themselves out to public, even if it was just their friends. Their private lives are theirs and they liked it that way. Shelly noticed and brought everyone's attention to her first.

She cleared her throat before starting. "Hi," She said weakly, "I uhhh, all of you know me by name at least but since I'll be moving here and staying with Gil and Sara, I hoped that I could get to know you guys better." Greg was the first to react by throwing his arm around her shoulders and smiling down to her. She relaxed into him, something that didn't go unnoticed by the protective father, and she stared back at the rest of the group who were still staring intently at her.

Nick and Warrick both smiled smoothly at her thinking, fresh meat, and, after saying their "Welcome to Las Vegas", they immediately started planning practical jokes to use on her.

Sara and Grissom had obviously forgotten Sara's slip up at the grocery store hold up since they hadn't gone to talk to Brass. _They obvious don't remember me standing there when she mentioned that she was his daughter._ He knew not to say anything about it, especially since Catherine had told him the story they told them about who Shelly was, and played along. "Welcome to Las Vegas Shelly. We haven't really talked before but obviously you know me." He held out his hand. "Name is Jim Brass."

Shelly smiled at him, remembering that he was the one she phoned from the grocery store, and shook his hand forcefully. "Thank you very, very much for your help that night Captain Brass."

The others looked on with questioning glances but Catherine cut off any other questions with one of her own. "Wait just a second. Did you say that you would be staying with both Gil _and_ Sara?"

Shelly looked to Grissom and Sara telling them with her eyes that this was theirs to answer. When they didn't say anything right away she signed to them, _"I gave you time to think of what to say. They just gave you a perfect lead in. Talk now."_

Grissom sighed and, not knowing how to say it through words, grasped Sara's hand above the table for all to see. After a minute of silence from the group, Shelly piped up. "Come on, I've only been in Las Vegas for a few weeks and even I knew something was going on there."

Catherine was the first to congratulate them. "That's awesome guys, we kind of thought something was up when you both took off for a week but we didn't want to assume anything since Shelly was with you."

The others said the congratulations also. "Well, it's about damn time." Brass stated under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear. Grissom and Sara blushed a deep crimson and internallythanked Shelly when she came to their rescue yet again.

"Actually, I'm not the only one moving out here to stay with them." They all looked at her expectantly after raising their brows toward Grissom and Sara. Shelly took a deep breath and glanced quickly at Grissom and Sara's supportive faces. "My son will also be moving here." After the jaws were picked up from the table, Shelly answered the first of many questions. "His name is Brennan and he just turned one a couple days ago."

"That's where you guys went?" Catherine asked.

"There and L.A. to visit my mother." Grissom answered.

Through out all the questions, Greg never removed his arm from Shelly's shoulders. Grissom seemed to be the only one that noticed this but kept it to himself. _I'll castrate him later._ He thought. _When there aren't any witnesses._

Shelly went with them back to CSI and was sitting in the break room during their assignments. It was a slow night and therefore Catherine volunteered to stay behind to do paperwork. After everyone was gone and only she and Shelly were left, she pulled Shelly into her work area and they sat researching the universities and colleges in the area.

_Life is just beginning._ Shelly thought. _And I couldn't be happier … God I'm being sappy._ She shook her head and smiled when she saw Grissom walking to his office.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N:** I'm really sorry for the lack of anything good in this chapter. The interaction at the beginning between Grandma G and Shelly was my favorite part and I even re-wrote that a few times._

_**Next Chapter** – The epilogue; the last chapter in this story. It will start out a month later and will see angst between Shelly and Rhory, a connection between Shelly and Greg and later, friendship between them all._


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**One Month Later – 6:00pm April 4th**

Shelly walked into the prison with thoughts running rapid in her mind. Greg was being the best friend anyone could ever wish for, showing his support every way he could, including now as he walked in with her hand firmly grasped in his. She wasn't sure what to think about it, if anything. Friends can be that caring but what about more? _Not going there right now…_She thought.

Right now she could only afford to think about Rhory. She was walking into the prison, at his request to talk to her, with nothing but vile threats to throw at him. She didn't know what he wanted but she knew she wasn't going to like it. It was going to take all her energy not to smash through the window and strangle him, never mind talk to him civilly.

They walked into the room and instantly saw Rhory sitting on the other side of a glass wall, eagerly awaiting Shelly to pick up the phone and talk to him. Greg gave her hand one more squeeze and leaned down to her ear, "I'll be right back here for you." Shelly looked up at him gratefully before stepping up to the chair and sitting down. It took her a second to calm herself before picking up the phone.

"What?" She asked as smoothly as she could.

"I want you to get me out so we can be a family." He actually had hope in his eyes like he believed she would help him.

After her initial shock wore off, she blasted, "You want what?"

"I want you to get me out of here. You have cop buddies, make me a deal." Her jaw dropped. "What? I should be out there raising my kid and being with my family."

"You have no kid, you have no family." She spat.

"I have family Shelly and you know that. I want to see my son."

"Fuck you."

"He's my son."

"Wrong, he's mine and you'll never see him, ever. He's going to be with me and there is nothing and no one that will take him away from me."

"Then get me out of here Shelly-babe so I can help." She glared at him. "I want to see him, be with him, with you."

"Fuck you."

"I'm his father."

"Sperm donor."

"What?"

"Correction - you're his sperm donor."

"Whatever you want to call it Shelly, he's still part me." Shelly scrunched up her nose. "Without me, he wouldn't be here."

"Maybe not now but," She looked back quickly at Greg who was smiling supportively at her, "I could have waited for a real man."

Rhory scoffed but shook it off. "You have to help me get out of here."

"Are you fuckin' stupid?" Shelly finally lost it. "You killed Deryck and almost killed the very person taking care of your son. I'm the one that shot you and was perfectly ready to let you die. Why the hell would you think I'd help you now?"

Nothing she said phased his psychotic mind. "You'll help me now because you didn't let me die then because you still love me."

"I never, ever loved you." She growled as she leaned forward. "I didn't let you die then because I wanted to see you suffer first. Bleeding out in minutes is not enough. I wanted to watch you deteriorate in here, getting years worth of payback. All those big men in there ready to do to your ass what you did to me and god knows how many other little girls. Then, after a couple years of that, you'll finally get the needle and we'll get to watch you. You'll get to look into the eyes of the people you hurt, the people who absolutely hate you with a religious passion … their eyes, as well as my own, will be the last things you see before you meet your afterlife in hell."

She tossed the phone back onto it's cradle on the wall, fingered the silent, stunned man across from her, then got up and walked into Greg's waiting arms. He walked with her out of the prison and to his car, his arms still around her shaking shoulders. "Let's get some ice cream. Your favorite, Chocolate Brownie Blizzard from Dairy Queen, awaits you madam." He opened the door and witnessed her appreciative smile before closing it and joining her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Almost** **Two More Months Later - Moving day, May 29th – 6:34pm – New Grissom/Sidle Residence**

Everybody was piled into the living room; pizza boxes and pop cans galore spread out amongst them. Sitting on the couch was Jillian, Grissom and Sara, who was leaning into Grissom's side while his arm rested on the back of the couch. Nicky, Warrick, Lindsey and Brass were checking out the backyard, and Shelly sat between Greg and Catherine on the floor.

They were talking about the University of Las Vegas programs that Catherine helped Shelly research and get into. She was immediately approved admittance into the school after they viewed her high school grades, straight A's, and after she received a near perfect on her SAT scores. "What's your IQ?" Greg asked.

Shelly blushed and shrugged her shoulders. Greg nudged her playfully. "Come on, you have to know what your IQ is. What did you get? Mine is 150." Greg boasted, comically puffing out his chest.

Shelly grinned and shook her head.

"Mine's 139." Catherine informed her.

Shelly sighed and blushed deeper. "Fine, mine is 152." Grissom smiled proudly while the others gaped at her. "What? It's not that big a deal."

"Are you kidding me? You're 18 and have a better IQ then me." Catherine said. "How is that fair?"

"Well Greg has a higher IQ too and you didn't say anything about it."

"That's because I knew the boy had brains, not saying that I didn't think you did but damn, 18 with an IQ of 152." Catherine shook her head. "I just wish you'd tutor my kid."

"I could."

"Oh no, she'd eat you alive." Catherine answered without thinking.

Shelly smiled. "Trust me, I've been around worse." Catherine nodded sheepishly, realizing her faux pas. Shelly looked up at the clock and gasped at the time. "Shit." She mumbled while standing up.

"What?" Greg and Catherine both asked.

Shelly looked at her father and pointed to the clock. He nodded his head and got up, walking to the sliding glass door that led to the backyard and yelled for the others to come in.

When the others piled in, Shelly stood up in front of them all. Her face was flushed from having everyone's eyes on her; _she isn't an attention seeker that's for sure_, Grissom thought happily. _So much like me._ He smiled.

"Uhhh, everyone, before they get here I just wanted to give you all a little background. It's going to be shorter then I planned because well, I lost track of time and they'll be here any minute." When she knew she had everyone's full focus she continued. "In foster care, you all know that I told you about how I met some very mean people. Well the one nice person I met … her name is Debbie. She is the woman who took in my son when I had him and wasn't allowed to keep him. Well, she and her sons…" Just then the doorbell rang. Shelly shrugged helplessly, "They're here with a little surprise for everyone."

She went to the door and was immediately embraced in a bear hug. "You're looking much better Deb." Shelly squeaked out as Debbie held her tight. Debbie nodded.

"I'm feeling much better." She released Shelly and let her pick up her crutches that fell when she lunged for Shelly. She stepped into the foyer to give Grissoma hug and then Sara. Shelly stepped to the side to let Lukas in, after receiving a hug from him, and instantly reached for Brennan who was squirming in Quinston's arms. She gave Quinston a one armed hug then released him to give her son an enormous squeeze, with caused him to giggle.

At the sound of a baby's giggle, and at the sight of Shelly walking into the room with a baby, Lindsey jumped up from her seat. "No way! A baby!" She yelled while running up to Shelly. "Can I hold him please?"

Shelly looked down at the jubilant twelve year old and sadly shook her head. "He hasn't seen me in a few months so he won't leave my side for anybody but…" Just then Brennan practically jumped from her arms and into Grissom's.

"Ganp! Ganp!" Grissom chuckled and hugged Brennan.

"Missed you too little man." Everyone who hadn't seen Grissom with the little boy was silent as they watch him cuddle and coo him.

"Did he just call you gramps?" Catherine asked in shock.

Grissom chuckled nervously and nodded his head. "He thinks I'm his grandfather." He looked at Shelly then Sara. They hadn't thought this whole secret through. They didn't think about the boy giving them away. Thankfully to them, everyone seemed to accept his answer.

"How old is the lil' guy?" Warrick asked as he walked up to him and tickled his foot.

Grissom answered happily, "He's almost 16 months." then went to put him down. As soon as his little feet hit the floor, Brennan raced straight to Sara's open arms.

"Ser! Ser!" Sara picked him up laughing.

"Hey lil' buddy, what's up?" Sara walked him outside and into fresh air as he chatted up a nonsensical storm, waving his arms around joyously to add emphasis on his words.

Shelly turned back to the group. "Group, hey!" She got their attentions and took a deep breath. "Okay, everyone, this is Debbie, her son Quinston, and her little foster man, Lukas. Group, this is Catherine, Warrick, Nicky, and Jim." Debbie shook their hands. Quinston was talking to Lindsey already and Lukas was standing shyly to Shelly's right. "Debbie, this is Lindsey, Catherine's twelve year old, and this is … where's Mama G?" Shelly asked as she looked around.

Everyone heard her muffled laugh coming from the backyard. They all walked out the glass door and found seats around the pool. Shelly brought Debbie over to where Grissom, Sara and Jillian were playing with Brennan while the others hung back, chatted, and watched.

Jillian looked up from playing with Brennan. _"Grandma, this is Debbie from Chicago that took care of me and B while we were there."_

Jillian stood up as fast as her aging body let her and stepped into Debbie's hug. "Tank oo." She whispered. Debbie nodded and pulled back so that she could read her lips.

"No, thank you Mrs. Grissom for accepting Shelly." Jillian waved her off and sat back down to play with her great grandson. Debbie sat down with them.

When the group noticed that their boss and co-worker weren't even paying attention to the guests in their house anymore, they took it as their sign to leave. They walked up and said goodnight before heading out the door. Warrick and Nick walked Lindsey out while Catherine and Jim stayed behind for a second.

"That's a really cute kid Shelly."

"Thank you."

"He looks a lot like someone I know." Catherine said suspiciously.

Shelly just shrugged while hoping that Catherine hadn't figured it out already and if she did, she hoped she didn't say anything to anyone. Catherine just gave her a sideways glance, then Grissom one, before walking over to the playing group.

"Good bye all." They waved. "Gil, Sara, we'll see you at work tomorrow night." With that, she was gone.

Jim walked up to Grissom and shook his hand when his good friend stood. While still grasping his hand, Jim pulled Grissom into a half-hearted hug and whispered in his ear, "I over heard Sara tell you at the grocery store. Congratulations." When he saw Grissom look at him funny, he reiterated. "Sara called Shelly your daughter. I haven't mentioned it 'til now 'cause I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable with me knowing. Well, now I just don't care." He shrugged and smiled. "Congratulations Gil. She and Sara are doing wonders for you."

Grissom tried to glare at him but his smile gave him away. Jim smiled back then went to say goodbye to Sara then Shelly. He pulled Shelly into a hug, which startled her at first. "I know and I just want to tell you that you are doing a fine job on him. I haven't seen my old friend this happy ever." Shelly raised her eyebrow, which made Jim laugh, wink, then walk into the house and out the front door. Shelly looked over to her father who shrugged and went back to playing with Brennan.

Greg came back out to the yard and walked up, wrapping his arm around Shelly's shoulders. Shelly glared at Debbie, daring her to say some wise crack, but Debbie wisely stayed quiet and just watched.

"So, his pictures don't do him justice Chicago, he really is adorable." Since everyone that didn't know the secret was gone, he said what he wanted to say when he first saw Brennan. "He looks so much like you Griss."

Grissom just smiled and continued playing. Greg laughed and kissed Shelly's head. "See you guys tomorrow."

Debbie glared at his back as he left and Shelly glared right back at her. "Don't even dare Deb. He's nice, funny, and absolutely not crazy… well, at least not in the sense of the other guys I've met. He works for dad and I already have _him_ hounding me about it, I don't need you. Besides, nothing is happening because of the age difference."

"Please, when you hit 19, he'll be all over you." Shelly shook her head and watched as Grissom stared down Debbie from his hiding place behind Brennan.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**August 6th - Shelly's 19th Birthday**

"Daddy!" He wasn't his kid, and he and the little boy's mother weren't even dating, yet, and still, Brennan thought of Greg as dad. Ever since Greg went to pick him up at daycare and the worker misread Greg as his father, saying, "Brennan, your daddy's here to pick you up," Brennan had been calling him nothing but Dad or Daddy. Not that Greg minded in the least, in fact, he was absolutely enjoying it.

Much to the discomfort of the overly protective grandfather, but Grissom knew that Shelly could do much worse, and in fact, had done much worse in the past.

"What is it lil' B?" Brennan jumped into Greg's lap and started making a fuss over how the dragonfly wasn't in its proper spot and he couldn't reach it. _I swear the kid has OCD._ Greg thought as he left the party to help Brennan fix his stuffed animals.

When he returned, he took a deep breath, grabbed Shelly by the arm and then pulled her to a part of the backyard where no one else was within earshot. "What are you doing?" She laughed. She saw the nervousness in his eyes and began to really wonder what he was up to.

"Shelly," he took another breather, "I thought you were cool since the moment Sara told me about how you told off Ecklie in the mall. I knew you were serious but playful and fun and smart all at the same time and that's awesome because that's all people tell me about me. Like how I joke around yet I can…" He shook his head. "Never mind that part. I'm just rambling now."

Shelly chuckled. "It's okay Greg, just tell me why you pulled me away from everyone and I'll forget that you rambled like an idiot."

Greg smiled as he gripped her hand. "I brought you away from everybody to ask you if you uhhh…" He looked down to gather himself then looked back up to her. "Would you like to go out with me? Like on a date or whatever."

"No…"

He looked down again, hurt, and started stuttering, "Oh, okay, it's just that I thought … well … I don't know…"

She shut him up by leaning in and kissing him. After she backed off, he looked at her with a mixture of confusion and hope. "You didn't let me finish." She smiled at him. "I wouldn't _like_ to … I'd _love_ to."

He smiled back and lifted her off the ground. Putting her back down, he pumped his fist in the air, "Yes." He then leaned in and kissed her. A throat clearing behind them made them step away from each other guiltily. Sara smiled. "She said yes?" Greg nodded. "Nice." And she walked away leaving Greg to smile down at a confused Shelly.

"Believe it or not, I did have a speech and stuff that Sara helped me with." Shelly chuckled, shook her head, and pulled him back to her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N**: I would like to, again, apologize for the bad chapter before this and hope that this made up for it at least a little bit._

_**Next Chapter** – There is no more chapters but I am working on a sequel. I learned from my mistake on this story and will not be writing 'as I go' but I will try to have a two or three chapter head start so it's not so much waiting. Thank you all for your reviews and your patience, it means a lot._


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